Georgia Became the “Hollywood of the South” Through Massive Corporate Tax Breaks
The state of Georgia is subsidizing Hollywood CEOs to the tune of $1 billion a year. That money could go to schools, roads, health care, and good public jobs. But sure, a little peach logo in the credit sequence is cool too.
Georgia is offering film-tax breaks as an incentive for filmmakers to bring their productions to the state. (Elijah Nouvelage / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Like many American industries of the past generation, the TV and film industry has globalized over the last two decades. Yet we still wield the outdated term “Hollywood” to describe work increasingly outsourced from Southern California.
That’s why Georgia may not immediately come to mind when considering the impact of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild — American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strikes. While Los Angeles remains the corporate headquarters of the entertainment-industrial complex, the Peach State is the fastest-growing industry hub in the nation in terms of job growth and dollars spent in the state.
While glossy magazine stories may cite Georgia’s attractive scenery and diverse people and places as the reason for the trend, the truth is far more predictable. It’s all about tax breaks and cheap labor. For all of the conservative complaints about “woke Hollywood,” the real driving force in the movie and TV industry is not liberal social politics but studio executives’ bottom lines. Entertainment industry capitalists are always trying to improve their margins by cutting costs.
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