James_Jan-Feb_2026_web - Flipbook - Page 37
eorgia’s film
and television
industry is at
an inflection
point. The
challenges facing
production
today are real.
Overseas incentives are aggressive.
A strong U.S. dollar can instantly
make international production
more attractive. Labor costs differ
dramatically from country to country. At the same time, the nature of
content itself is changing— smaller
budgets, more projects, shorter
production cycles and an explosion
of platforms demanding constant
storytelling.
But to frame this moment as a
downturn is to miss what is actually
happening.
What we are seeing is a rebalancing of where, how and why creative work happens. And Georgia is
uniquely positioned to weather that
shift and to lead it.
For nearly two decades, Georgia has proven what smart policy,
strong partnerships and long-term
thinking can accomplish. Communities across the state have built
infrastructure, trained workforces,
welcomed productions and aligned
local leadership around the creative
industries. That foundation matters
now more than ever.
The next phase, however, requires a broader lens.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Traditionally, film incentives
have been evaluated through a production lens: spend, payroll, hotel
nights and immediate economic
impact. Those metrics still matter.
But the global creative economy
has moved beyond single-medium
pipelines.
Today, the most valuable asset
is not the film itself, it is the intellectual property and people behind it.
Think of creative ideas and
intellectual property as sitting in
the palm of a hand. Stories, characters, concepts and formats originate there. From that palm extend
multiple fingers representing all the
ways this intellectual property can
be monetized: film, television, gaming, music, live experiences, sports
content, merchandise, tourism and
digital platforms. The same story
can travel across all of the monetization channels.
Georgia’s opportunity is to be the place
where the palm lives.
That means supporting
environments where
ideas are born, refined,
owned and scaled.
companies. Music festivals are cinematic experiences. Gaming engines
are becoming production tools. Live
events generate content that lives
far beyond a single night. Tourism
marketing is increasingly story-driven and cinematic by design.
CONVERGENCE
Film is an important
part of entertainment,
but certainly not
siloed. Sports organizations are now media
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