Georgia’s Film Tax Incentive Bombs at the Box Office

‘The Hollywood of the South’ was built on an absurd credit system that has proved unsustainable.

By Cole Murphy. He is a Joseph Rago Memorial Fellow at The WSJ. Excerpts:

"Studios started moving productions overseas when unions hiked the cost of labor and other cities and countries countered with even more generous offers. Now, millions of square feet of production facilities sit empty."

"The Georgia General Assembly expanded the state’s film tax incentive in 2008. Studios can receive credits equal to 20% of production costs incurred in-state, plus an extra 10% if they promote Georgia by putting its peach logo in the movie’s credits."

"every dollar the state awarded studios—$5.2 billion between 2015 and 2022—returned only 19 cents in tax revenue, an 81% loss."

"Film-related spending in Georgia peaked in fiscal 2022 at $4.4 billion across 412 productions. By 2025, however, the figure had plummeted to $2.3 billion across 245 productions. Marvel shot instead in the U.K."

"The subsidy-fueled gold rush emboldened unions to squeeze producers, warding off studios looking for inexpensive film locations. The 2024 agreement for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees raises standard crew rates more than 20% in Georgia, and the bigger problem is the Teamsters."

"Many producers interviewed spoke of shoots where Teamsters jobs swallowed as much as 10% of the budget. One described the highest-paid transportation worker as making “the same amount of money as the director of photography.”"

"Over the past 20 years, Michigan and Louisiana both implemented film tax credits, only to lose their industries to more generous incentives elsewhere."