052704GeorgiaArchive

Note: I love Georgia for Production! They have great facilities, sophisticated and advanced film commissions, deep historical looks both built and natural, cool roads, beaches, mountains, cities.......and they are on their way to putting out some forward thinking economic incentives. Call them and see if they have what you need -- they probably do! - Rob Mendel

GEORGIA
from Axium Payroll Co.'s "Incentives Guide" - Download yours at http://tinyurl.com/z6kxj
This new program offers a base tax credit of 9% with uplifts based on Georgia job
creation, expenditures in Tier 1 and 2 counties and for multiple television projects by
a single production company. Production companies that spend a minimum of
$500,000 in the state on qualified production and post production expenditures in a
single year are eligible for this credit, including most materials, services and labor.
The 9% credit applies to both residential and out-of-town hires with a salary cap of
$500,000 per person per production; an additional 3% is awarded for all Georgia
residents employed by the production.

The Act will award additional tax credits of 3% in addition to the 9% base investment
tax credit for expenditures in Tier 1 and 2 Georgia counties. Typically, these
underdeveloped counties are outside of metro Atlanta.

For companies with multiple television projects that spend in excess of $20 million in
qualified expenditures in Georgia within a single year, the Act will award tax credits
of 2% in addition to the 9% base investment tax credit.

Eligible productions include feature films, television movies, pilots or series,
commercials, music videos and certain interactive projects. Commercials and music
videos are eligible for the base tax credit once the production company has spent a
minimum of $500,000 on qualified expenditures during a single year. This may be
through a single project or multiple projects.

The tax credits apply to the companyís Georgia tax liability. Should the company
have limited or no Georgia tax liability, then these credits may be transferred or sold
once to one or multiple Georgia-based companies to use against their tax liabilities.
There are brokers who will negotiate sales of the credits, and may provide cash
advances as well.

In addition to feature film and television production, the Act also includes other areas
of entertainment industry development including animation, interactive entertainment
and game development.
Productions may also qualify to take advantage of Georgiaís sales and use tax
exemption, a point-of purchase sales tax exemption that saves up to 8% on most
purchases and rentals in the state.
ï Georgia Film, Video & Music Office
o Phone (404) 962-4052
o Website
2005 Georgia Film & Video SourceBook
Click Here to read full article about. Georgia's New Incentives law

Georgia Entertainment Industry Investment Act
Fact Sheet

Torre, Greg Director 404.962.4052 404.962.4053 gtorre@georgia.org
Fibben, Alison Project Manager 404.962.4050 404.962.4053 afibben@georgia.org
Brayton, Brenda Music Specialist 404.962.4047 404.962.4053 bbrayton@georgia.org
Dominey, Craig Locations Liaison 404.962.4049 404.962.4053 cdominey@georgia.org
Thomas, Lee Locations Liaison 404.962.4048 404.962.4053 lthomas@georgia.org
Burr, Virginia Administrative Assistant 404.962.4052 404.962.4053 vburr@georgia.org

Welcome to the The 2005 Georgia Film& Video Sourcebook

HBO'S "Warm Springs" Showcases Georgia's New Incentives - State Newsletter Article

"Georgia's New Incentives" - State Newsletter Article -
" The new program offers a base tax credit of nine percent on Georgia expenditures with uplifts based on Georgia job creation, expenditures in less-developed counties and for multiple television projects by a single producer. The base tax credit will apply to the companyís total in-state spend through both residential and non-residential wages and qualified expenditures on materials and services. To encourage the employment of Georgia cast and crew, companies will receive an uplift of three percent resulting in a tax credit equal to 12% for in-state hires. To encourage filming in unique locations throughout the state, companies will receive an additional three percent credit for qualified expenditures in regional counties outside of metro Atlanta. If a production company invests more than $20 million in the state in multiple television projects in a single year, it will be entitled to an additional two percent credit, resulting in a base investment credit of 11% percent. Companies must spend a minimum of $500,000 in the state to qualify for the credit. Production companies who have limited or no Georgia tax liability will be permitted to sell their tax credits to Georgia taxpayers. The new act supplements a sales tax exemption for film, video and commercial producers that has been in effect since 2002."............................READ MORE

Georgiaís new sales and use tax exemption offers significant savings for film, video, and broadcast production companies both local and national.
Effective January 1, 2002, the bill provides a point-of-purchase sales tax exemption, which applies to materials including camera, grip, and electrical equipment, wardrobe supplies, set dressing materials, film and processing, and even certain vehicle rentals.
Best of all, because this is a point-of-purchase plan, the savings are immediate; no tax hassles, no waiting until the end of the year, just the equipment and services you need at a cost you can afford.
ï Sales & Use Tax Incentive Brochure (PDF)
ï Download an Application (PDF)
ï Press Release (PDF)
ï Rebate Form 12 (PDF)
ï Vendor Rebate Form 12A (PDF)

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The Georgia Production Partnership Incentive Program
http://www.georgiaproduction.org
The Georgia Production Partnership (GPP) is a not-for-profit coalition of leaders, companies and individuals who are active in the state's film, video, music, and digital industries. Established in 1998, this proactive group has been instrumental in the grass roots organization of the production community and the development of key legislative incentives. Our goal is to bring Georgia back to the forefront of U.S. production.
ï Georgia Production Partnership Incentive Program
A statewide discount program offered through the Georgia Production Partnership (GPP), an alliance of industry-specific service and material providers, professional organizations and support businesses. For more information on the GPP, contact info@georgiaproduction.org.
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Savannah Film Commission
The Savannah area boasts a wealth of locations including the nation's largest historical district, an evergreen urban forest & unique and timeless coastal and rural settings. Being the first planned city in the U.S., Savannah has retained its original layout with 22 public squares, quaint brick streets, and an architectural timeline which dates back to 1733. Period locations abound that easily double 19th century U.S. or European cities, and our marshes and swamps have often played as Southeast Asia. The possibilities are up to you.Savannah's growing infrastructure supplemented with regional resources make filming here economical as well. Permits in Savannah are cost-and hassle-free. Georgia is a Right to Work state with talented union and non-union crew, all dedicated to building a respected production center.
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MPAA says:
Sales and use tax exemption for the purchase or lease of a wide range of production and postproduction equipment and services for use in qualified production activities in the state.

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Article in Production Update Magazine Sept. 2004:
THE SOUTH: Locations and New Incentives Beckon
By Tamra Keig Kjos

If you ask anyone involved in film production what the major criteria are for choosing a location, "incentives" seems to be very high on the priority list, if not number one in many cases.

"In our experience, the question posed by producers is not 'Do you offer incentives?' but 'Which ones do you offer?' That's just the expectation now," explains Greg Torre, director of the Georgia Film, Video & Music Office. That mind-set poses a challenge for a state whose legislature refused to pass a recent incentive package bill.

"The governor wants to look at it as a statewide policy issue, because there was a significant state budget deficit this year with many other industries looking for state assistance. They have now created a task force to study competitiveness issues across all these industries and to identify solutions," he explains.

Torre says that although 2002 was their best year in more than a decade, 2003 was slow, with just one major film project: Bobby Jones, Stroke of Genius. "But on the plus side, we had 12 indie projects," he adds.

The state also continues to have a good number of other productions, with more than 170 national, regional and local TV commercials, 35 music videos, and a few cable TV home improvement episodes. "Ultimately we want a good mix of projects," says Torre. "Of course we love Hollywood, but we're trying to come up with help for the local, indie filmmaker, such as the development of loan programs, seed funds and distribution programs.'

'We're also trying to build our commercial side," he continues. "We're targeting the large, spot-producing Georgia-based corporations and encouraging them to think of Georgia first for their next commercials." He points out that Georgia does have a point-of-sale incentive program already in place - the sales and use tax exemptions.

But one of the state's biggest draws, undeniably, is Atlanta. "Outside of the exemptions, the nice thing about Atlanta is that you go from an urban core, just 30 minutes out to suburbs and countryside - and beaches just four hours away," Torre says. "Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is an incentive too," he adds. "Atlanta is a very central transportation hub, with hourly flights to and from L.A. and New York, so people can fly in for a day of shooting, and go home at night."

In the absence of financial incentives at the current time, Torre maintains that Atlanta's biggest draw is that it's one of only a few production centers in the country. "We have talented writers and editors, and all this infrastructure in place," he says. "Unless a project is totally location-based, the big question is going to be if there are crew, lighting and other equipment available." Torre points out that the availability of experienced crew is significant, because it saves productions so much on manpower costs. "If you have to bring a whole crew with you, you're paying per diems, lodging and transportation," he says. "A lot of our business is done with local crews."

One such Atlanta based business, with more than 27 years of serving the film community, is CineFilm. CineFilm recently upgraded its telecine capabilities by installing a Thomson Spirit DataCine, the state of the art in film to tape transfer technology. In addition to the Spirit, Senior Colorist Ron Anderson chose the da Vinci 2K Plus with the Colorist Toolbox for color enhancement. "The creative tools available with the 2K Plus and the Colorist Toolbox allow a whole new level of artistic collaboration between the colorist and the client," says Anderson.

With three full time colorists, CineFilm offers its clients a one-stop shop for film processing, dailies and final transfers. "The new suite will allow us to offer film to tape transfer in Standard Definition or High Definition. We will also offer tape to tape color enhancement in SD or HD", says CineFilm customer service manager, Jim Ogburn.

CineFilm has chosen Teranex as the backbone of its upconversions from SD to HD and downconversions from HD to SD. CineFilm recently began a project that will air on the Discovery HD Theatre Channel that will utilize the new conversion capabilities as well as HD color enhancement. Teranex also offers cutting edge technology in noise reduction, and dirt and scratch removal for problematic film.

The newly updated suite has been busy since it was first made available for booking in May. Recent clients include Philip Hardison Productions and Tantrum Pictures out of Knoxville, TN, Atlanta's Turner Classic Movies, Icon Productions out of Rochester, NY, and Post Production Services out of Cincinnati, OH.

Torre is optimistic about the future of film production in Georgia and the office's efforts to attract location managers, producers and more projects, such as The Clearing (Pieter Jan Brugge, producer/director). "We go out in communities, we get great photos, and we're updating and digitizing our photo file," he says. "Then we send out CD packages and make sure we show them all the state has to offer," Torre adds. "We're a business - and we're trying to build it."................................................READ ENTIRE ARTICLE ABOUT THE SOUTH

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