ATLANTA — Georgia officials demonstrated how welcoming they are of motion-picture production companies this week by opening up the state Capitol to them.
All week, government staffers tiptoed over cables and ducked under lights to get to their offices during filming of the feature movie “Kill the Messenger” staring Jeremy Renner, who played Hawkeye in “The Avengers.”
Renner plays Gary Webb, a real, Pulitzer-winning reporter who becomes tangled in a smear campaign after alleging the Central Intelligence Agency was selling drugs to poor Americans as a way to get funds to Central American revolutionaries despite a congressional prohibition.
The movie is set to be released in 2014, a decade after Webb died of two gunshot wounds to the head, which was ruled a suicide.
Following behind California and New York, Georgia has made its way in the Hollywood circle.
With Georgia’s versatility from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the coast line in Savannah, filming and production has become a $3.1 billion industry here.
Tax incentives have helped.
“We have a whole package of incentives, perfect climate, diverse cities, mountains, coasts, and infrastructures. Everything put together creates a firestorm here,” said Lee Thomas, division director of Georgia’s film, music and digital entertainment office.
The state is home to studios such as EUE/Screen Gems Studios, Tyler Perry Studios, Atlanta Filmworks, and the new Pinewood Atlanta studio that opens spring of 2014. A $90 million studio is planned for Effingham County near Savannah.
“Georgia is growing rapidly. One of the reasons that it’s growing is because of the cable production, which is a booming part of the industry. Over 40 networks are producing their own original productions,” said Kris Bagwell, executive vice president of the Atlanta EUE/Screen Gems Studios.
Founded by George Cooney, EUE/Screen Gems Studio is headquartered in New York City and opened its Atlanta location in the summer of 2010.
Since then, numerous networks have used the studios on Atlanta’s Southside, including ABC Family, Fox, Disney and more.
One of the major benefits of filming in Georgia is the 30 percent tax credit.
The state provides a 20 percent tax credit for companies that spend $500,000 or more on production and post-production in either a single project or on multiple ventures.
The state also grants an additional 10 percent tax credit if the finished product promotes the state with the peach logo or offers something with equal value.
“For a long time Georgia lost a lot of business to Canada and Louisiana, so this tax credit has made it beneficial for companies looking to film here,” Thomas said.
In addition to the tax-credit bonus, the talent infrastructure also sets the state apart.
Experienced professionals ranging from painters and hair dressers to costume designers and camera operators are based in Georgia or have moved here for work in recent years as the industry has created more than 25,000 jobs, and 11,000 of them full-time.