The television and film industry is one of the hottest economic drivers in Georgia today. Lee Cuthbert, a location specialist for the film division within the Georgia Department of Economic Development, told participants at the Rome Floyd Chamber Confluence Conference on Thursday that in 2007, before Georgia developed its latest series of tax incentives for the industry, the movies and television programming had a $241 million economic impact on the state. By the end of 2018, that had grown exponentially to $9.5 billion.
The film office was created in 1973, following the filming of “Deliverance” in Northeast Georgia.
“Then-Governor Jimmy Carter saw that it made a great economic impact on that area. There was no whitewater rafting industry there until ‘Deliverance’ happened,” Cuthbert said. “The thought was, this brings jobs and investment, so lets get this going all over the state.”
See more at NWGA News.
