Georgia sound stages' latest manifestation of the state's expanding movie enterprise: a vast 30-acre studio area which has opened in the former Lakewood Fairgrounds place in close proximity to downtown Atlanta. The fairgrounds, managed by the city of Atlanta and until recently utilized as a location for a flea market, are a local landmark as well as already a favorite shooting location, home for such films as Burt Reynolds' 1977 trucker film "Smokey and the Bandit."
EUE/Screen Gems, a New York City business that also operates studios in Manhattan and Wilmington, N.C., stated that it will spend $6 million to convert the fairgrounds and its Spanish colonial-style exhibition halls into Georgia's largest studio. Although it was previously managed by Columbia Pictures, the company is not related to the Screen Gems production label now managed by Sony Pictures. The company plans to make a 37,500-square-foot soundstage, as well as refurbish four other buildings on the property that date to the turn of the last century. When the venture is completed in March 2011, the complex is going to cover more than 100,000 square feet of sound stages and office space, as well as a set of construction shop and lighting and grip amenities.
Hollywood has been working in the state in the last few years in a really significant way, but the state of Georgia has a genuine shortage of workable facilities. The closest large-scale studio to Atlanta is RiverWood Studios, approximately 45 minutes away from the city, that is operated by Raleigh Studios of Hollywood. Those include four sound stages ranging from 7,500-15,000 sq. ft. and with 2,400-amp capacity to all stages, a 10,000 square-foot mill and production area, a 140x24-foot Cyc (Cyclorama) wall, 18,000 sq. ft. of office space, make-up as well as dressing rooms, over 100 acres of back lot which includes a six-acre lake as well as two streams and close distance to Hartsfield Airport.
Film producers, directors and studios asked the company to open a facility in Atlanta, considering its location as well as the appeal of the state's film tax credit, one of the highest in the nation. Among the ventures anticipated to film at the Lakewood facility will be an adaptation of the Broadway play "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf" from Atlanta-based filmmaker Tyler Perry. Under the program, producers can receive a credit equivalent to 30% of their in-state production expenses, which they could apply toward any tax liability they've got with the state. Alternately, movie makers can sell the credit to a third party as well as pocket the money, thus cutting down production expenses. The credit is broad, applying not only to movies and television shows but likewise advertisements, music videos, video gaming development as well as animation.
Georgia sound stages have an upswing since the credit was increased to 30% from 20% in 2008, production has influxed into the state of Georgia. Motion picture and TV production expenditure tripled to $770 million in 2009, as per the Georgia Film Office. In the last two years, 26 motion pictures have been filmed in the state of Georgia. For the last two years they've had a really, really good run as per the Georgia Film Office.
More info are soundproof, hangar-like buildings utilized for film as well as TV productions. In addition, euescreengems.com/ help make it easier for the production staff to create as well as set up the sets to be utilized.