ATLANTA – The coronavirus pandemic, after depressing Georgia’s film industry during its early months, actually helped the state bounce back strong during the last fiscal year.
Movie and TV productions accounted for a record $4 billion in direct spending during fiscal 2021, which ended June 30, the Georgia Department of Economic Development reported Wednesday.
That came on the heels of a decline the previous fiscal year, when the economic impact of the pandemic drove down direct film industry spending in Georgia to $2.2 billion, down from $2.9 billion in fiscal 2019.
“Because Georgia was the first state in the country to reopen our economy and worked with film productions across the state to ensure they could safely continue operations, the Peach State’s film industry is leading the nation,“ Gov. Brian Kemp said. “This record-breaking announcement also highlights Georgia’s incredible momentum in economic recovery as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Besides the early reopening of Georgia’s economy, the pandemic itself ironically boosted direct spending by the film industry. Safety expenses TV and movie producers incurred to protect their workers from the virus increased the industry’s direct spending, as did pent-up demand for film projects that built up during the hiatus in shooting that accompanied the pandemic.
“Georgia allowed productions to return before other markets, so we not only had returning shows that shut down due to the pandemic, but we were also able to attract new shows that were slated to shoot in other, locked-down markets,” said Lee Thomas, director of the Georgia Film Office.
“This additional slate of projects, combined with increased budgets due to the need for additional crew and space, plus stringent safety measures, led Georgia to have an even higher than projected record year.”
During fiscal 2021, 366 productions filmed in Georgia, represented by 21 feature films, 45 independent films, 222 television and episodic productions, 57 commercials, and 21 music videos.
Georgia’s film industry took off after the General Assembly passed lucrative tax credits in 2008 to incentivize producers to shoot their projects here. For more than a decade, the industry has posted exponential growth with new record spending regularly set by productions.
Besides its wide range of natural settings for filmmaking from the mountains to the coast, Georgia now offers 2.1 million square feet in purpose-built stage space and 3.2 million square feet in retrofitted stage and dedicated warehouse space.
Additional Georgia-lensed film and television programs are set to be released in the weeks and months ahead, including Disney’s “Jungle Cruise,” the DC Films production “The Suicide Squad,” and a movie adaptation of the hit Broadway show “Dear Evan Hansen.”
Georgia House Speaker David Ralston (Photo by Beau Evans)
ATLANTA – Georgia House Speaker David Ralston will ask House budget writers this winter to earmark $75 million for additional law enforcement and mental health services.
Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, made the announcement Wednesday during a speech at the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council Summer Training Conference on Jekyll Island.
“We owe it to our communities to bolster law enforcement and mental health services in a time when some areas of our state are seeing a dramatic increase in crime and the number of individuals in need of mental health care,” he said. “This proposal is one I am proud to offer and the House of Representatives will stand firmly behind when we consider it as part of our 2022 budget process.”
Wednesday’s announcement came just two days after Ralston called for a $3 million increase in funding for law enforcement during a meeting of the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee to talk about the recent crime wave in Atlanta. The $3 million is part of the much larger funding package Ralston proposed on Wednesday.
The $75 million includes $25 million in one-time $1,000 bonuses for sworn law enforcement officers, which will be made available to law enforcement agencies through grants.
“Georgia is a state that stands firmly with those who wear the badge,” Ralston said. “This $25 million is about rewarding those police officers and sheriff’s deputies who protect and serve our communities each and every day, often putting themselves in harm’s way in the line of duty.”
Of the other $50 million the speaker is seeking, more than $20 million will go to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and $10 million will go toward pay raises for state prosecutors and public defenders. The remaining $20 million will be divided among a dozen other state agencies based on requests and program needs, with a particular focus on mental health services.
Georgia ranks 51st and last in the nation for access to mental health care. Ralston has made improving mental health services a key priority of his legislative agenda.
“I have said many times that for us to continue to be a great state, we must also focus on being a good state – one that cares for those who need it,” he said. “Mental health is something that touches almost every family in this state, so investing in mental health services and our accountability courts is not just good business – it is also a way of helping people recover and reunite with their families.”
Ralston’s spending proposals will be considered during the 2022 General Assembly session beginning in January.
ATLANTA – Georgia Public Service Commission Chairman Chuck Eaton is leaving the office after being appointed a Superior Court judge in the Atlanta Judicial Circuit by Gov. Brian Kemp.
Eaton, a Republican, was elected to the commission in 2006 and reelected to six-year terms in 2012 and 2018. Before winning a seat on the PSC, he worked in real estate.
Kemp announced Eaton’s judicial appointment late Tuesday, then followed up early Wednesday by naming businessman Fitz Johnson to fill the commission vacancy left by Eaton. Johnson will represent the PSC’s District 3, which includes Fulton, DeKalb, Clayton and Rockdale counties.
Johnson, a 21-year veteran of the U.S. Army, owns his own company in the business services sector. He has been active in his community as a board member at several nonprofits, including the Kennesaw State University Foundation and Wellstar Health System. He also has served on the State Charter Schools Commission.
Johnson ran for state school superintendent in 2014 but lost in the Republican primary. He also ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Cobb County Commission last year.
“Fitz Johnson’s remarkable record of service to our nation, experience as a private sector business leader, and dedication to his community uniquely qualify him to serve our state on the Public Service Commission,” Kemp said Wednesday.
“With his diverse background and real-world leadership credentials, I know Fitz will work hard every day to ensure Georgia remains the top state for business and the best place to live, work, and raise a family.”
The five-member PSC regulates Georgia electric utilities and telecom providers. While its members are elected statewide, each represents a different district around the state.
Verda Colvin is the newest justice on the Georgia Supreme Court.
ATLANTA – A judge from the Georgia Court of Appeals is moving up to the state Supreme Court.
Gov. Brian Kemp Tuesday named Judge Verda Colvin to fill the vacancy left at the beginning of this month by Harold Melton, who stepped down as the state Supreme Court’s chief justice to enter private practice.
“It is an honor to appoint such an experienced and accomplished justice to our state’s Supreme Court,” Kemp said. “With Justice Colvin on the bench, Georgia’s highest court is gaining an immensely talented and principled judge who will help guide it in the years to come.”
Colvin has served on the Court of Appeals since being appointed by Kemp in April of last year. Before that, she served for six years as a Superior Court judge in the Macon Judicial Circuit.
Prior to her appointment to the bench, Colvin was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Middle District of Georgia. Before that, the native of Atlanta was an assistant prosecutor in Clayton County and assistant general counsel at Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta.
After receiving a dual bachelor’s degree in government and religion from Sweet Briar College in Virginia, Colvin earned a law degree at the University of Georgia.
Melton stepped down from the state Supreme Court July 1 after serving for 16 years and leading Georgia’s judicial system through the disruption to normal court activities caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Presiding Justice David Nahmias was unanimously elected by his colleagues to succeed Melton as chief justice.
ATLANTA – A local utility and telephone company in Coastal Georgia are teaming up to offer high-speed broadband service in three counties.
Coastal Electric Cooperative of Midway and Darien Communications will invest $40 million with new broadband provider Coastal Fiber Inc., an affiliate of the cooperative, to serve 16,000 homes and businesses in Liberty, Bryan and Long counties. The first phase of the project is due to be completed in four years, with the first customers connected as early as next year.
“I am thankful to Coastal Electric Cooperative for stepping up to help hardworking Georgians gain access to new job opportunities, improved education tools, telemedicine, and much more,” Gov. Brian Kemp said Tuesday. “This project will allow thousands of Georgians to have access to reliable, high-speed internet – which is a fundamental part of continued growth.”
The coastal project is only the latest in a series of broadband expansions launched across rural Georgia since the General Assembly passed legislation two years ago authorizing Georgia electric membership cooperatives (EMCs) to get into the broadband business. In all, EMC broadband projects are bringing high-speed internet to about 200,000 Georgia homes and businesses.
The state is also stepping up the investment of public dollars in rural broadband. Between them, the fiscal 2021 mid-year budget and the fiscal 2022 spending plan the General Assembly adopted during this year’s legislative session earmarked $30 million for rural broadband projects.
The governor also has made expanding broadband in Georgia the priority for one of three committees he formed late last month to determine how to spend $4.8 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funds.
While it’s long been clear that rural Georgia needed high-speed internet connectivity to compete economically, the push for broadband projects took on even greater urgency when the coronavirus pandemic forced schools to close, putting students living in rural areas without internet service at a disadvantage.
“Our community deserves access to the tools that help our residents and businesses successfully participate in today’s economy,” said state Rep. Al Williams, D-Midway. “Thanks to Coastal Electric and Darien Communications for making broadband a reality in this area.”
