By Carol Badaracco Padgett
A collective of elected leaders, legislators, business owners, entrepreneurs, and artists connected at last week’s Georgia Unscripted roadshow in Marietta, Georgia (Aug. 3)—the third event of the nine-city tour from Georgia Entertainment.
The topic: Georgia’s creative economy with a Marietta-Cobb County flare (Austell, Smyrna, Kennesaw, Acworth, Vinings, Mableton, Powder Springs, and Fair Oaks). The event took place next to the studios of Laser Stream Media (with CEO Mike Parsons on hand) and included time-tested Georgia entertainment players as well as new voices.
First up was a fire-you-up welcome from Jezlan Moyet, Atlanta entertainment fixture and senior vice president of Georgia Entertainment. Founder Randy Davidson took the stage next, reminding the packed house of the stakes facing the state’s status as a global entertainment leader. He also acknowledged the power of Cobb County’s distinctive arts: music, film, gaming, esports, theatre, visual arts, and more.
Of film in particular—along with the Peach’s State’s tax incentives and other smart moves to attract and grow business in the category—Davidson encouraged, “Other states are putting lots of political capital into this (Texas, Missouri, and others). We can keep this.”
The deputy commissioner of the Georgia Film and Entertainment Office, Lee Thomas, took the stage next, stating, “Thank you for the commonality,” as she surveyed a sea of industry and strike-supportive faces.
A Marietta-born actress, Erin Bethea, known for her roles in Sherwood Pictures’ Facing the Giants and Fireproof, also shared with the Georgia Unscripted crowd, giving her take on the Peach State’s entertainment industry. After a stint living in LA, Bethea and her husband returned to Georgia to open Greenlight Acting Studios in downtown Kennesaw and add to the state’s creative might.
Bethea noted, “I want to have [fewer]conversations with actors about when they’ll need to move to NY or LA for their careers and more about why they can stay right here. Culture, theatre, training, film, it all exists here and we want to feed the talent for on-camera work.”
Next up, business owner Roger Alexander of Atlanta Camera Rentals in Marietta took the spotlight. Alexander is an executive producer, director, and DP for film and TV (the Jimmy Fallon Show, BET, and TV One films) and music videos, while his business provides camera and lighting gear, grip trucks, and other essentials for production.
“Over the past two years, I’ve shot or produced seven feature films here, some benefitting from the tax [incentive]and others below the threshold,” Alexander shared. “But starting out, all I knew was LA, so I went there.”
Once in LA, Alexander witnessed firsthand as Tyler Perry, Netflix, and others made an exodus for Georgia. “It’s all the smaller companies that are the unsung heroes [in Atlanta],” he smiled. “And I’m one of those businesses.”
Alexander also found he could make a difference in kids’ lives in Atlanta, where businesses and entrepreneurs like him can “reach demographics who wouldn’t have exposure to this type of industry and these opportunities.”
Another entrepreneur and educator fueled with a passion to help future generations find a pathway into entertainment industry jobs is Griffin, Georgia-born Scott Votaw, the director of the Georgia Film Academy (GFA), bringing experience from Lucasfilm.
Today, “the GFA is collaborative within the university system,” Votaw noted, offering coursework for middle schoolers up to MFA scholars. It’s also structured around a hub-based education model where students study at real-life studios.
“A gaffer for a Marvel film spoke to our students for half an hour [one day],” he shares of the rare opportunities that Georgia film and education can deliver, hand in hand.
The GFA’s educational model has received such notice and acclaim that the Venice International Film Festival [Venezia, Italy], the oldest festival in the world, has invited Votaw to present as a global leader in workforce training at its 2023 event.
Georgia Film Office 20-year veteran Craig Dominey took the podium next, alongside Cobb County Camera Ready Liaison Kim Franz with Cobb Travel & Tourism.
For years, Dominey and his staff have fielded questions like, “Do you have a place that can stand in for the desert? Or the moon?”
Due to Georgia’s diversity of landscape, he noted, “Most things we can pull off.” His office draws from a pool of liaisons around the state, like Franz, who possess a wealth of information about every Georgia city.
In addition, the liaisons share Georgia’s famed and rich hospitality. As Franz described it, “[We] make sure productions have everything they need to have a pleasurable experience.”
The last presenter of the night was Brennan Dicker of Georgia State University’s Creative Media Industries Institute (CMII), who emphasized the importance of minding Georgia’s next generation of storytellers who will work in fantastic digital mediums, gaming, esports and other frontiers.
“We must determine the best path to move our students forward,” Dicker emphasized. “We need sustainability for their careers in Georgia.”
Dicker also spoke about the state’s dire need to mind the tax incentive.
“Remember the public benefit of what we’re talking about … the families and small businesses that count on [it]… it’s important to maintain Georgia’s status as a global entertainment leader,” he said, adding this declaration to ear-splitting cheers and applause: “Everyone came here because we had a plan and we’re smart—we’re Georgians!”
The night ended with a brief and lively panel discussion on the industry’s incredibly important strengths and stakes. Cobb County dwellers and panelists included local singer/songwriter Brianna Shelko, Cobb County resident and owner of Level Up Music Productions; Chris LeDoux, Smyrna resident and co-founder of Crafty Apes; Mateo Palfreman, director of esports at Blue Mammoth Games; Will Adamek, owner of Cobb County based Atlanta Craft Services; and Michael Wolmer in sales at Barbizon Lighting and a Marietta resident.
Find a full list of Cobb County event sponsors, roadshow supporters, and images at Georgia Entertainment’s photo recap.
To join the next Georgia Unscripted roadshow in Augusta, Georgia, Aug. 30, 2023, RSVP here.
