Georgia has incredibly favorable taxes for film productions. Georgia actually LOSES money on the film industry, but they can fudge the numbers to make it look like a success. The state’s own internal audits show that it’s a black hole of lost tax revenue.
What happens is that if film productions meet a handful of pretty easy to achieve criteria (like displaying the “Made in Georgia” clip at the end of their production), they receive a tax credit. BUT, most productions in Georgia are structured in such a way, that they don’t actually have much tax liability in GA. They don’t owe much tax to Georgia. Instead, they’re allowed to SELL the credit to others, like a rich Georgia resident. So if I’m mister money bags living in GA, I can buy the credit from the film studio for less than it’s worth and lower my tax bill. The film company makes $ selling the credit; the rich tax payer pays less in taxes, and the state government is left holding the bag.
Honestly because in the early 2000s Florida completely fucked them selves by getting rid of their filming tax credit. Republicans did not want awoke Florida full of filmmakers, so they shut out the filmmakers that kept them on the map for 20 years, and all those people went to Georgia and started studios up there.
Others have noted tax breaks, but the details are 20-30% credits commonly. Some regions have added tax breaks on top of the state level. Additionally, some of the tax credits are transferable so companies call sell them even if profits aren’t generated in the state.
There’s also a major airport hub in Georgia so it’s easy for talent and staff to fly in and out.
Someone found a way to build a studio that has the capacity for any project, then some politicians decided to undercut every other place in the world with tax breaks, incentives, and loopholes. Generally after a decade or so the state will start rolling back the breaks a bit once there’s no danger of being abandoned.
And then someone else out there will build a studio…
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