Two weeks following a rather embarrassing mea culpa (see previous post), a numbered House Bill has emerged from the Georgia Legislature addressing Georgia’s Motion Picture & Television Industry and it appears that the Legislature is committed to Georgia’s 30% tax credit for another year. As a local activist explained, “People who work in Georgia’s entertainment industry shouldn’t be surprised by an annual review of our tax incentives.”

House Bill 1027 (authored by Ron Stephens [164th District], Butch Parrish [156th District], Amy Carter [175th District], and Matt Hatchett [143rd District]), is available for your perusal at the Georgia General Assembly’s Legislation website [website][PDF download].

Georgia’s Film Office released this statement today:

“Many of you are already aware that there are potential changes coming to Georgia’s entertainment incentives—both the Sales and Use Tax Exemption as well as the Entertainment Tax Credit program. The link to this legislation, which was introduced earlier this week, is below:

http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/display/20112012/HB/1027

Due to the State Legislature’s need to generate revenue for many programs critical to the economic health of the State, difficult decisions impacting many different industries were made. Initially, the plan in regard to the Georgia Entertainment Industry Investment Act (2008’s HB1100) was to reduce the potential tax credit percentage from a 30% tax credit to a flat 20% tax credit— actually lose the logo uplift entirely—as many legislators were not convinced that the logo was a valuable promotional tool for the State. We felt that this decision would be fatal to Georgia’s film and television industries.

Consequently, the legislation that was introduced was an alternative to dropping to a 20% maximum tax incentive. The major changes to our current legislation are 1) the elimination of credits for interactive entertainment 2)the elimination of the Sales & Use Tax Exemption for purchases or leases of production equipment, and 3) the additional requirement of including a Georgia link in project websites in addition to displaying our web address in the project itself. There is also a new requirement that the Georgia Entertainment Promotion be placed above the below-the-line crew crawl, but there is language allowing for alternative promotional opportunities if this placement is not possible.

There were also changes in this proposed legislation that should be seen as very advantageous for incoming productions. In the current legislation, only Georgia ‘headquartered’ travel or insurance companies are allowed—if adopted, HB1027 allows for an insurance company or travel agency to simply have a Georgia branch to be qualified. Also, the language requiring the Georgia logo to be included in promotional trailers or in each half hour of television broadcasts has been removed. Additionally, some of the changes in the legislation were simply clarifications of language in the earlier statute.

Although it is very disappointing to lose interactive entertainment as qualified productions for tax credits in HB1027, these companies typically do qualify for other incentives, such as job tax credits. Overall, we are very relieved that if HB1027 is passed we have been able to maintain our 30% tax credit so that the Georgia film and television industries can continue its unprecedented growth! We are also hopeful that these changes will afford the film industry some protection from further revisions in any upcoming tax reform agendas.

We very much appreciate your continued partnership in Georgia’s film and television industries.”

How was your Groundhog Day? Ours was quite embarrassing and we owe some folks an apology. Yesterday Film Georgia published an inaccurate “alert” to our Facebook page, informing our followers that one of our State Representatives had introduced legislation which might negatively impact Georgia’s undeniably effective tax incentive for the film industry.

This report was absolutely inaccurate. If you check you’ll find that there’s NO bill on the floor of the House to that effect. You can check the list of House bills for yourself on the Georgia General Assembly’s website. It was a whisper of a rumor that should never have made it onto Facebook, especially from us.

The alert was issued third-hand, and was not verified with the office of House Majority Leader, the Honorable Larry O’Neal, who we named in our Facebook posting. Please do not contact Representative O’Neal’s office and please tell your friends and colleagues they can stop trying to write their protest songs. They were never very good in the first place, and honestly, nobody likes the ukelele.

Today we would like to issue our sincere apologies to Representative O’Neal (and his staff), and would like to thank Representatives Ron Stephens and Butch Parrish, both of whom have worked to strengthen Georgia’s film industry, for rightfully castigating us for the inaccurate posting. Rumors have legs and may run far, as in back to the Studios which decide whether they’ll be shooting in Georgia.

We’re going back to doing what we do best, which is to simply be cheerleaders for the State of Georgia and the magic of filmmaking. If we ever publish a political alert in the future you can be assured that it will have been verified from multiple quoted sources. We’ll leave the inaccurate Facebook posting on our wall, because it is important that people see the mistakes of lazy reporting.

Speaking of lazy reporting…

In 1948 The Chicago Tribune ran the infamously inaccurate headline “Dewey Defeats Truman”. It took them awhile to regain their readers’ trust. While our very public faux pas was seen by a much smaller audience, it’s important that we take our lumps and hope that our elected officials will forgive our people if we get a little excited about the film industry. It’s a pretty neat business.

And making more business for Georgia is what we’re all here to do.

In case you missed the teaser for the Disney film “The Odd Life of Timothy Green” floating around the Internet for the past few weeks we’re posting the video here on FilmGeorgia.com (after the cut) – so take a look and be sure to tell your friends who worked on this film! This magical story about a special little boy named Timothy Green was filmed in various locations around Georgia and a bit in Tennessee. Without getting your hopes set too high, the buzz on the street is that Timothy Green might turn out to be a nice little project. Starring Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton, and reintroducing Cameron Adams (who worked with the film’s director Peter Hedges on ‘Dan in Real Life’.) For more about this film click on over to this article on USA Today’s website.

Why looky what we just found, a brand new shiny trailer for the movie “Footloose”! The folks at MTV Films are hoping that you’ll be kicking off your Sunday shoes and breaking out your best #Footloose hashtags on Twitter leading up to the October debut of the Georgia-lensed remake of the classic 80s hit. Time will tell if Director Craig Brewer (Hustle and Flow) is able to catch lightning in a bottle the same way that the original film did, but we’re looking forward to cutting a rug to his new film this October. Congratulations to all of you who participated in this production! More photos and the video after the cut!

Did you know that Wal-Mart was in the business of making movies? Were you aware that the multinational conglomerate Proctor & Gamble had moved into Tinseltown? Would you believe that the two companies had joined forces with the grand old network NBC and partnered with Georgia to produce their 4th television movie? Well it’s all true, and you can see the result for yourself if you tune in tonight to see “Field of Vision” at 9pm on your local NBC affiliate. Described as an “all-new movie” in which “a high school quarterback faces a tough decision when a magic video camera reveals his teammates bullying the new kid in town”. Shot in and around Atlanta, this television movie (described as a “backdoor pilot” by Deadline.com)… don’t miss the video after the cut!

NBC’s website elaborates on the story:
When Tyler McFarland’s old video camera starts mysteriously revealing the truth about the bullying of Cory, a new transfer student, by Tyler’s friends on the football team, he must choose what’s more important: winning or doing what’s right. The camera reveals more surprises to Tyler’s kid sister, Lucy, who learns that Cory has a secret past, unknown even to him. Lucy must convince her mom (Faith Ford, “Murphy Brown”) and family that the revelations are not just her imagination as she enlists their help to find the answers Cory so desperately needs.

Here’s a sneak peek of the television movie:

Shot this March under the working title “Magic Eye”, this collaboration between large companies, national networks and business-oriented state governments may define a new aspect for project development of serial television. As a sales node, Wal-Mart has refined the science of understanding consumers purchasing habits, P&G the science of creating products for physical consumption, and NBC the science of delivering content for virtual consumption. Whether these capabilities mesh well for the production of compelling storytelling remains to be seen. What’s clear now is that Georgia’s aggressive tax incentives may be compelling to the Wal-Mart/P&G production team and we certainly hope to bring you more news of these sorts of projects.

Tune in tonight to see “Field of Vision”!!

Get your VCRs ready! (do they still make those?) ABC Family is due to debut their latest Atlanta-lensed television movie about a time-traveler from the future who falls in love with a 21st century tabloid writer. “My Future Boyfriend” Sunday night at 8/7 Central! We’re proud to have ABC Family producing these fun little television-ready projects in Georgia (3 in the past 2 years) and we certainly hope that they’ll keep up the pace! We’ve linked to a great video interview of the stars of the film, Sara Rue and Barry Watson (after the break) and in case you needed any further convincing, this television movie also stars Fred Willard and Valerie Harper and looks like a fun little project.

If you do manage to miss the show you can tune in several more days afterward, so you have no excuse!! (and don’t miss the interview with the show’s stars, below)….

In a total scoop for Film Georgia we are pleased to report that a Franco-Egyptian Entertainment Consortium PDA has announced that it is bringing the popular romantic teen drama “Momies Jeunes Dans l’Amour” to American audiences and have selected Georgia as their preferred shooting destination. Originally rumored to be a Tim Burton project, this new series is expected to begin production in early April.

The English translation of the title for the French/Arab project may sound silly to those unfamiliar with the property, but the producers assured members of the media in attendance at the press conference that the show will be just as dark and angsty as the UPN series “Vampire Diaries” or the MTV reboot of “Teen Wolf”.

“Young Mummies in Love” follows the adventures of a group of partially re-animated mummies who are trying to locate a talisman that will complete their rebirth into the 21st century. Part love story, part road trip, part musical, the talented BAFTA-award winning main characters from the original series (Mahmoud Luc D’Orsey, Jenette Louvre-Luvre and Garçon Pietre) will be played by relative unknowns.

Early construction of the signature 200 foot tall pyramid set has already started on the site of the old Atlanta Braves Stadium, previously used as a parking lot by the Atlanta Braves organization. No word yet on what the Braves plan to do for substitute parking, as the completed structure and its surrounds are expected to displace more than 2,200 parking spaces. Anne Louise Berthon, spokesperson for Poisson d’Avril Entertainment, explained at a press conference at the state capital “It eez owah oonderstandeeng zat zee pipples of Hatlanta eenjoy zee scaree critchures, non?”

We hope that you’re as excited as we are here at Film Georgia… vampires, werewolves, zombies and now mummies!!! It’s almost unbelievable, isn’t it??!

(Nos remerciements à la bande “voici les momies” de nous aider dans cette blague du poisson d’avril!)

Building momentum with its competitive tax incentives and a growing consensus of its long-term viability in the marketplace, Georgia has cemented its reputation as the Mecca for horror-film television series with the pending June 5th debut of MTV’s new dramatic series Teen Wolf (official website). Springing into place beside its spiritual siblings “Vampire Diaries” and “Walking Dead”, the re-imagined world of Teen Wolf will center around a typical teen named Scott whose entire life has been changed after an encounter with a supernatural beast in the wild wood. Directed by Russell Mulcahy (known to sword-wielding nerds everywhere as the Director of the 80s cult classic “Highlander”) this refreshed version of Teen Wolf will look nothing like the 1980s Michael J. Fox comedy by the same title. Shot in blocks of 3 episodes, much of those at night, it’s rumored that the crew of Teen Wolf have a bet with the crew of Vampire Diaries for who has the palest grip!! Great job everyone, we look forward to seeing the results of all your hard work!!

In case you missed the explosive* trailer featured during this evening’s Super Bowl XLV, a very sexy fifth installment of the popular Fast & Furious franchise entitled “Fast Five” is set to debut in theaters and IMAX on April 29th. Filmed in Georgia, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Arizona and California, Fast Five is expected to supercharge the franchise as producers reunite stars from previous installments of the high speed action series.

Georgia’s entertainment industry tax credits helped secure the state’s place in this globe-spanning series, popular around the world. It became a common sight over the summer to see hot cars and sexy actors rolling through the streets of Atlanta and film tourism should benefit from the international penetration this particular series enjoys.

SYNOPSIS

Vin Diesel and Paul Walker lead a reunion of returning all-stars from every chapter of the explosive franchise built on speed in Fast Five. In this installment, former cop Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) partners with ex-con Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) on the opposite side of the law. Dwayne Johnson joins returning favorites Jordana Brewster, Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot, Matt Schulze, Tego Calderon and Don Omar for this ultimate high-stakes race.

Since Brian and Mia Toretto (Brewster) broke Dom out of custody, they’ve blown across many borders to elude authorities. Now backed into a corner in Rio de Janeiro, they must pull one last job in order to gain their freedom. As they assemble their elite team of top racers, the unlikely allies know their only shot of getting out for good means confronting the corrupt businessman who wants them dead. But he’s not the only one on their tail.

Hard-nosed federal agent Luke Hobbs (Johnson) never misses his target. When he is assigned to track down Dom and Brian, he and his strike team launch an all-out assault to capture them. But as his men tear through Brazil, Hobbs learns he can’t separate the good guys from the bad. Now, he must rely on his instincts to corner his prey… before someone else runs them down first.

SOURCE: FastFive.net

* everybody and his brother have used the adjective “explosive” to describe the trailer and we figured “what the heck” and stayed with the Hollywood Herd.

The staff of Film Georgia were excited to learn that the Farrelly brothers comedy “Hall Pass” has been announced for release on February 25, 2011 – mostly because we want to see the final edit of the scene we watched being filmed at Johnny’s Hideaway of actor Jason Sudeikis trying out pick-up lines on unsuspecting women. The trailer (video after the cut) displays the same irreverent (some say “juvenile”) Farrelly brothers humor we’ve grown to love from their popular past works like “What About Mary?” and “Dumb and Dumber”. Fans of the sibling directors are sure to embrace this comedy romp featuring Owen Wilson and Sudeikis as married men whose wives have given them a week-long “Hall Pass” to pursue the freedoms that single men enjoy. Be sure to tell your friends about this Made-in-Georgia movie!

For more information on “Hall Pass” check out the official Hall Pass website or watch the YouTube video below!

After weeks of whispered rumors that a “really big movie already in production over in London” was scouting coastal Georgia, the news has officially broken that the latest installment in the Marvel Comics X-Men franchise, entitled “X-Men : First Class”, should begin filming in Georgia in late 2010. While early reports indicated that Savannah or Tybee Island were likely contenders for a production office, the latest indications are that the production is considering Brunswick as their base of operations and only this evening Film Georgia received indications that this possibility was extremely likely.

While waiting for the proper time to release news of this pending X-Men film production we sought out highly placed nerds at last weekend’s Dragon*Con in an effort to better understand what the newest installment of X-Men might hold in store for audiences.

“The last two movies sucked,” said a rather large young man who archly refused to provide us with any other name than “Lord Mugma” before gliding away to photograph a gaggle of “Wolverettes”.

In a 2009 interview with Empire Online X-Men Producer Lauren Shuler Donner referenced the “First Class” comic book series (a series which explored a series of adventures with various X-Men characters, and which ran from 2006 to 2007) and indicated that the writers and/or the studio considered the “Harry Potter” franchise as a “role model” for this subtle reboot for a series which may have disappointed some fans.

Like our pal “Lord Mugma”.

A synopsis posted to the Internet Movie Database indicates that “First Class” might also concentrate on establishing the back story between the characters of Professor Xavier (previously portrayed by Patrick Stewart) and Magento (performed by Sir Ian McKellen).

Regardless of what shape the upcoming X-Men movie takes or which coastal Georgia communities are selected as shooting locations (or whether the final product satisfies Lord Mugma), we welcome our filmmaking pals from across the pond to Georgia’s fair shores and encourage them to become ridiculously addicted to Brunswick Stew and to our state in general… hope you folks have a BANG UP time here in Georgia!!!

Memphis-based business journal “The Commercial Appeal” reported yesterday that Memphis, Tennessee, has lost their bid to play host to the remake of the 1980s hit film “Footloose” and that the production will instead be coming to Georgia. In an interview with the film’s director Craig Brewer (“Hustle & Flow”), Commercial Appeal describes how the Memphis package remained $1.6 million short of hitting Paramount’s $25 million budget for the remake, which has been rumored as “coming to Georgia” for at least a year.

Expected to begin filming in early August, Brewer’s script for Footloose (2011) is set in the fictional small town of Beaumont, Tennessee. No word yet on when pre-production will begin, but Commercial Appeal reports the film’s director as saying that the production will employ “400 paid dancers, 2,200 paid extras and 90 local crew members”.

Although Georgia emerged as the winner in this competition with Tennessee, it’s safe to say that our local production crews fully understand Brewer’s frustration at watching Tennessee-specific projects leave his home state. Georgia’s motion picture industry languished during the period prior to our more-competitive tax incentives, with many long-time crew members relocating out of state to follow the work.

Let’s do Tennessee proud.

Have we got some fun news for you!! But first: Have you ever seen the 1985 comedy Teen Wolf? It’s the story of Scott Howard (played by Marty McFly… we mean, Michael J. Fox), a bland high school spud who discovers that he is descended from a long line of Werewolves and suddenly gets all the fame and adoration of his classmates due to his astonishing lycanthropic powers.

Now imagine what would happen if that movie were re-imagined along the vein of the very popular CW series “The Vampire Diaries” and that the pilot episode of this new series were to be produced in Georgia (specifically in the Atlanta area). Well kids, imagine no longer… Film Georgia is happy to announce that the pilot for “Teen Wolf” is a go for Georgia and is in fact at this very moment crewing up! MTV says that the star of the new series will be Tyler Posey, and that the series will be a dramatic comedy.

Set to direct the film is Russell Mulcahy, director of the 1980s cult hit “Highlander”. This won’t be Mulcahy’s first project shot in Georgia, as he shot the Kim Basinger bank heist film “The Real McCoy” in Atlanta in the mid-1990s.

Let’s see… Zombies, Vampires, and now Werewolves? How far off can it be before we see Dr. Frankenstein’s monster having lunch with The Mummy at a local Chick-Fil-A??

In today’s online issue of the LA Times writer Rachel Abramowitz documents the events leading to the production of the Georgia-lensed production “The Blind Side” in her article “The making of ‘Blind Side’ a real-life drama“. Inspirational on many levels, be sure to give it a read!

Congratulations to the Writers, Producers, Cast & Crew of the Georgia-produced television series “The Vampire Diaries” after their win for “Favorite New TV Drama” at tonight’s 36th Annual People Choice Awards, held at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California. It’s well known in Atlanta’s motion picture community that the cast and crew of Vampire Diaries work long, late hours due to the show’s “vampire” theme and while this award won’t change their shooting schedule it is an encouraging sign that the show has legs for a second season. The other shows nominated for Favorite New TV Drama were FlashForward (ABC), The Good Wife (CBS), NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS), and V (ABC).

We’ve been aware since late November that the Farrelly brothers (pictured above), famous for comedies like “Dumb & Dumber” and “There’s Something About Mary”, were likely to be bringing a new project to Georgia and yesterday Variety took the news public that “Hall Pass” would begin production in late February (consult the Variety link for details on the premise of the film).

Variety’s article confirmed scuttlebutt that popular comedic actor Owen Wilson would be in the film, adding that Jason Sudeikis will co-star along with Wilson. No news on possible shooting locations yet, and per our standing confidentiality policy we will not publish details about projects in production without authorization from the publicist.

Photocredit : David Shankbone

The Georgia Department of Economic Development has given public notice that it plans to officially adopt a new chapter (159-1-1), under the Georgia Entertainment Industry Investment Act, entitled “Film Tax Credit”, which shall provide guidance, definition and general clarification and refinement to the code section concerning the motion picture industry in Georgia. The proposed additions are up for public review and comment until January 29th and may be made in one of three ways:

Email: regcomments@georgia.org

Fax: 404-962-4053

Mail: Bill Thompson
Deputy Commissioner, Film, Music & Digital Entertainment
Georgia Dept. of Economic Development (GDEcD)
75 Fifth St., NW, Suite 1200
Atlanta, GA 30308

It should be noted that the 2008 amendment to the state’s entertainment tax incentives program spurred a burst of production work which continues to this day. From the zany zombie-infested comedy “Zombieland” to the Oscar-buzzed Sandra Bullock picture “The Blind Side”, the hit comedy “Drop Dead Diva” to the cult hit “The Vampire Diaries”, Georgia has been covered up in work and indications are that more productions will slam into the state over the next four months.

This evening we’re rolling out the new “Film Georgia Store” on Zazzle.com. Our first offerings include a few hats featuring a special version of the Film-GA logo, a couple of shirts, and our new line of “2nd Meal Mugs” (more on those below). The Zazzle store items can also be viewed right here at Film-Ga.com by going to the STORE link at the very top of this page (look up^^).

The 2nd Meal Mugs Collection features irreverent sayings related to various departments and jobs found only on a movie set; from camera assistants to background extras we’re hoping to eventually celebrate every person who contributes to the art of filmmaking. Our first batch of new mugs include these sayings:

• EXTRA: I put a little into every scene I walk through.
• CAFFEINE: It’s more important than checking the gate. Seriously.
• FEMININE MYSTIQUE: Just because I’m wearing a walkie doesn’t mean that I don’t have it.
• CONTINUITY: Yes, that scene was as badly directed as the last one. Totally matched.
• UPM: Destroyer of Kit Rentals – Don’t piss me off.

More are on the way, so stop by frequently to see what’s new, and follow us on Twitter for all the latest!