On September 20, 2012, I had the privilege of attending my first event with the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG), held at the Georgia Tech Research Institute, a large convention hall on 14th Street. TAG is a professional membership organization for Georgia business leaders in various industries with one commonality - the use and development of technology. Since technology pervades practically every modern business, not to mention our personal lives, there is virtually no industry exempt from the TAG umbrella.
Luckily that also means TAG has an entertainment division, which seems very robust, well marketed and well vetted, with at least 100 attendees to see over 20 top quality panelists, including Mala Sharma, Simon Horrocks, Iain Bluett, Don Mandrick, Steve Weizenecker, Blue Rocks, and Marshall Seese, to name a few.
But what I want to talk about was the surprise introductory session, a fire-side chat of sorts (without the fire) with arguably the man responsible for Georgia's initial rise and growth of the entertainment industry starting back in the 1970s, Ed Spivia. Ed was instrumental in creating a collaboration between Hollywood film studios and local and state governments in Georgia to convince the studios to film their projects (and, hence, spend their money) in our beautiful state. Ed was the first person to propose to then-Governor Jimmy Carter the idea of a Georgia film industry board to help attract more entertainment industry business to the state, which Carter approved and Ed implemented. Together they would travel to California, meeting with top film executives and bringing back millions of dollars worth of film projects to the state's economy.
Ed is most well known in the film industry as an extra in the movie Deliverance, a movie I actually really liked, despite the controversial content, and I paid homage to its legend by rafting the Chattooga River (including Bull's Loose) back in 2005. Ed is also responsible for setting up the original Lakewood Fairgrounds as a major film studio, which eventually spun off the Lakewood Amphitheater next door, a venue I practically lived in as a teenager as I was first falling in love with live music. Although Lakewood Fairgrounds was later turned into a large antique mall, it was sold in 2006 to Screen Gem Studios and was reconverted to a film studio, which is generating millions of dollars worth of jobs in Georgia.
The reason entertainment industry jobs are so important to attract to our state (besides it being a "green" industry which leaves a minimal impact on the environment), it requires production companies to necessarily spend a lot of money in Georgia by hiring local crew members, extras, location scouts, set designers, caterers, port-o-john suppliers, carpenters, lumber suppliers, car rentals, hotels, crane operators, technicians, and other services providers from the towns and cities in which they film.
Blockbusters such as "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" and "Forrest Gump," both filmed in Savannah, Georgia, naturally gave way to a whole new local industry surrounding film tourism, where fans can experience the actual set of the movie by visiting the quaint southern port city, not to mention the merchandising opportunities, such as selling replicas of the famous garden statue in "Midnight." The film industry in Georgia is actually leaving a permanent mark everywhere it goes, particularly in small rural towns, by creating a trail of prosperity that continues to thrive even long after the film has left the theaters.
Now the question is, how can we do that again?
Blockbusters such as "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" and "Forrest Gump," both filmed in Savannah, Georgia, naturally gave way to a whole new local industry surrounding film tourism, where fans can experience the actual set of the movie by visiting the quaint southern port city, not to mention the merchandising opportunities, such as selling replicas of the famous garden statue in "Midnight." The film industry in Georgia is actually leaving a permanent mark everywhere it goes, particularly in small rural towns, by creating a trail of prosperity that continues to thrive even long after the film has left the theaters.
Now the question is, how can we do that again?
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| Technology Association of Georgia Entertainment Summit - Atlanta, GA - Sept 20, 2012 |
