HOLLYWOOD OF THE SOUTH

When I graduated high school in 1998, I was convinced that in order to have a serious career in film & television production, I needed to leave my home town of Atlanta and lay down roots somewhere that had a more viable level of industry activity. Little did I know that 8 years later I’d be moving BACK to Atlanta to open a production company.

In my absence, Atlanta had exploded into an absolute hotbed of high-level production. When we initially started to write our business plan, it quickly became clear that locating our new venture in Georgia was a no-brainer. In the 6+ years since we started ECG Productions, things have only gotten better in this town. I can’t imagine anywhere we’d rather have our business located than right here in the Atlanta.

We’ve literally got everything: great weather most of the year, tons of different looks within a short drive, a well-established infrastructure of local crew and rental houses, and, of course, incredible tax incentives. That’s not just my opinion, either.

Just look at the laundry list of features (like “Trouble With The Curve”, “The Blind Side”, “X-Men: First Class,” and “The Hunger Games”) and episodic television series (“The Walking Dead”, “The Vampire Diaries”, “Drop-Dead Diva”…the list goes on) that are shooting here on a constant basis. Screen Gems recently built a 33-acre studio complex just south of the city with 5 sound stages and over 150,000 square feet of production space.

Georgia is now the 4th largest film industry in the country, behind only California, New York & Louisiana. And I haven’t even mentioned the massive music industry presence, or the burgeoning game development scene. In 2009, the local entertainment industry accounted for over $770 million in economic impact.   By the time they tabulate the numbers for the current year, we’re sure to be over $1 billion. Long story short, Atlanta is an outstanding place to produce content, and the rest of the world has taken notice in a BIG way.

More important than the dearth of major studio, network, cable and music video productions that are increasingly choosing Atlanta as their home, though, is the absolutely amazing production community we have here.  I am consistently amazed by the amount of dedication, integrity, and general esprit d’corps that exists among the local production collective.  It’s a very gratifying (and humbling) experience to see the very visible support of other crew members and companies in the area when we launch a new project, see a film though to distribution or just need a hand.

I know I speak for all of us at ECG when I say we aim to return the favor at every opportunity and will always do whatever we can to support our fellow comrades in the local film and television community. At the end of the day, we’re all in this together, and we couldn’t be prouder to call Atlanta our home base.

Jason Marraccini