GEORGIA IS ON THE WAY BACK!

IN MY OPINION:

WILLIAM REYNOLDS:

GEORGIA IS ON THE WAY BACK!

LEE THOMAS DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF GEORGIA FILM, MUSIC AND DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT

CERTAINLY BELIEVES SO1

We’re talking to production companies and studios all the time. … (The white paper) will set the tone for how things will go in the next couple, three months,” Thomas said. “We are in a good place in Georgia in that we’re opening sooner than New York and L.A. We’re seeing some projects that were going to New York or L.A. that are actually coming here. We do think things will get going here. We have projects that will be coming here in mid-June with pre-production that would start shooting in July.”

When the COVID-19 outbreak hit Georgia, 20 productions voluntarily shut down.

“’MacGyver’ (was) on their 11th episode and will tack on the 12th one when things pick up. Some projects hadn’t started yet. Others, like Netflix’s new movie (‘Red Notice’) with Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds, were in the middle of shooting,” Thomas said, adding all of those productions will return to Georgia once they believe it is safe to resume filming.

Once the pandemic began, the office created COVID-19 resources to help those affected by the disease. Thomas said she does not know how much money companies have lost since the pandemic but expects to have figures within the next two months.