By Carol Badaracco Padgett, Senior Writer
RiseImpact Entertainment Services, a new division of RiseImpact Capital based in Atlanta, is joining Georgia Entertainment on the red carpet at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, January 18-28.
While RiseImpact Capital, with a $3.5 billion portfolio, has traditionally been a leading provider of tax-advantaged investment opportunities in realms such as renewable energy, affordable housing and historic redevelopment, its latest arm will focus specifically on film, entertainment and digital media tax credits and rebate opportunities.
Although RiseImpact Entertainment’s services to the film industry and to its independent players primarily include navigation of state-based tax credits and rebates all over the country, Georgia does have additional aces in its hand, notes Chelsea Spivey, RiseImpact’s manager of film and entertainment tax credits.
“Georgia is a transferable state, so individuals and companies can bring their productions here and sell off any credits they can’t use,” she says.
In the business spotlight at Sundance is a Georgia Entertainment special event on January 19, sponsored by RiseImpact and Film Savannah, which will highlight the state as a powerhouse option for the film productions of independents and studios alike.
The diversity of RiseImpact’s background and business consulting services helps make the formation of RiseImpact Entertainment Services – which focuses on consulting services to streamline and optimize the process of securing film tax credits for production – uniquely positioned to steer productions toward business success.
These are just a few of the strengths RiseImpact Entertainment Services brings to the stage: 30+ years of experience in studio incentives and production planning; a seasoned team with hands-on industry experience and a client-service approach; in-depth knowledge of federal and state incentive programs; timely turnaround to accelerate receipt of credits, incentives, and funding of credits; and a background of handling over $1.5 billion of film, TV and entertainment tax credits syndicated across the United States.
“We’re honored to have RiseImpact’s new division alongside us at Sundance in 2024 – which is our first year to attend and engage,” says Georgia Entertainment Co-Publisher, President and CEO Randy Davidson. “We love nothing more than to help grease the wheels of production in the state of Georgia to help independent filmmakers succeed in a thriving creative economy.”
Spivey, a member of RiseImpact’s team since 2019 with a 16-year career span in legal and commercial real estate development, says making the trip to Sundance with Georgia Entertainment is essentially striking while the entertainment iron is red hot.
“This is a great opportunity,” she states. “Already, we have 25 individual meetings branching off from the Georgia Entertainment event at Sundance.”
Spivey adds, “The new arm of the business lets us come in on the front end of productions, file applications on the leading edge to help companies get pre-approval, and even help them pick locations to maximize the credit they can earn.”
In addition, Spivey says that RiseImpact Entertainment Services can introduce productions to seasoned auditors to help them get the maximum amount of tax credits.
“Then, if a company can’t use all their tax credits,” she adds, “we can brokerage them back with our original services.”
So for RiseImpact’s newest division, Sundance 2024 will serve as both an introduction, an intelligence gathering opportunity, and an on-ramp to new business. As Spivey puts it, “Sundance with Georgia Entertainment gives us the chance to relationship-build in a face-to-face manner with independent producers and production companies, learn their needs, and to outline mutually beneficial partnerships moving forward.”
In addition to attending Georgia Entertainment’s January 19 event, Spivey says she will attend a producers’ dinner she believes will also prove incredibly important in building business and getting ahead of the curve.
Learn more about Georgia Entertainment, RiseImpact and Film Savannah’s presence and experiences at Sundance here and follow news updates on georgiaentertainment.com.
