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A Year of Growth and Opportunity
In 2024, Film Augusta was on the move, actively recruiting productions and raising Augusta’s profile as a film destination. As you explore our Film Augusta Year-End Report, you’ll find stories of our team traveling to Atlanta, Orlando, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas to meet with filmmakers, advocate for expanded film tax credits beyond Atlanta, and learn best practices from film commissioners across the globe.
The film industry faced challenges this year, with production slowdowns nationwide due to the strikes in 2023, looming strike threats in 2024, and an industry-wide reset. However, the groundwork we laid this year—building relationships, planting seeds, and sharing Augusta’s story—is setting the stage for future success. Awareness of Augusta as a production hub grew significantly in 2024, and we’re excited for new connections to lead to introductory visits to our city in 2025.
This year’s highlights include Jennifer Bowen being recognized as one of Georgia Entertainment’s Top 200 Most Influential People in Georgia’s Creative Economy, meetings with the Augusta Legislative Delegation in Atlanta, and collaborating with Film Columbus, Film Macon, and the Georgia Film Office to showcase Georgia’s film assets at the American Film Market in Las Vegas.
We are grateful for the guidance of the Film Augusta Advisory Panel and look forward to continuing this momentum in the new year. In 2024, Augusta was seen, heard, and positioned as a city ready to welcome productions in the years to come.
Georgia Film Partnership at AFM
Film Augusta, Film Columbus, Film Macon, and the Georgia Film Office joined together to promote filming in Georgia at the American Film Market (AFM) held in Las Vegas. Film Augusta organized the combined sales effort to help bring awareness of the filming opportunities in our state outside of Atlanta. While working the locations expo at AFM, many contacts and prospects were made, resulting in one small production scheduled to film in Augusta in March. Each film office found the experience beneficial and we will likely repeat a joint marketing effort in 2025. (Above photos: at left is Aaron Buzza with Film Macon, Jenn with Film Augusta, and Chelsea Spivey with Revolution Entertainment; at right is Autumn Bailey-Ford, a Georgia-based film producer.)
Film Commissioners Meet Up at Annual Event
Jennifer Bowen and Sarah Childers with our office attended AFCI Week in August. This event, presented by the Association of Film Commissioners International focuses on connecting global film commissioners (peers of our film office), location managers, producers and studio executives.
While receiving some helpful industry insights and continuing education, the trip was also leveraged into in-person meetings with one major studio and one independent film production house. Using connections made there, we have an invitation out to a producer of family-friendly cable content that is considering a visit to Augusta during tournament week.
One of the most enjoyable parts of the trip was relationship building with the cohort of commissioners from the state of Georgia (some of whom are pictured with our team at right). We are fortunate to be part of this family of industry professionals from the "Hollywood of the South."
2024 Completed Film Projects
- "The Observance" Independent Film
- "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" Reality Episode
- "Accident, Suicide, or Murder" Documentary Episode
- "Police 24/7" Reality Show Season
Jennifer Bowen Recognized for Her Role in Georgia’s Creative Economy
This summer, the 200 Most Influential of Georgia’s Creative Industries were featured in the Georgia Entertainment’s Creative Economy Journal and honored at a luncheon. Our film liaison, Jennifer Bowen (below photo, middle right), was named among the honorees.
“We felt the time had come to recognize the leading players in Georgia’s dynamic entertainment economy,” said Randy Davidson, Founder and CEO of Georgia Entertainment and Co-Publisher (above photo, middle left). “These professionals, spanning all areas of Georgia’s creative industries, are collectively responsible for the state’s leading position as the creative, cultural and entertainment capital of the world.”
Year Two at the International Christian Film Festival
Our Film Augusta team members traveled to Orlando, FL to network with producers and filmmakers at the International Christian Film & Music Festival for the second year in a row. While there, our team had some great conversations about putting the Georgia tax incentive to work for their independent project’s budget by utilizing our city services, local crew, and eclectic locations. We have invited several productions to visit our city tour locations in order to discover if Augusta is the right fit for their future project(s). We will continue to update our progress as we have movement on our efforts.
Advocacy Update - State Capitol Visit
Film Augusta went to the State Capitol in March to speak to area legislators about the importance of the film tax credit and its impact on the continued growth of the film industry in Augusta. We visited on one of the busiest days at the Capitol, "Crossover Day," where we had the opportunity to meet briefly with Rep. Lynn Gladney, Rep. Brian Prince, Rep. W. Mark Newton, Rep. Karlton Howard, and Senator Harold Jones II. It was a successful visit and opportunity to make our elected officials aware of all that's going on in Augusta.
50 Years in Film
Film Augusta sponsored the Georgia Film Offices 50 Years of Georgia Film in an effort to expose and inform attendees of Augusta as a film production center. The Film Augusta logo was on banners and in slide show presentations for all attendees to see. Governor Kemp, and Commissioner Pat Wilson were speakers at this event, held at The Fox Theatre in Atlanta in March.
Mister Sleep Premiere
We were delighted to attend advance screening of Mister Sleep on Monday, March 25. Filmed entirely in Augusta, produced by Amy Rhinehart Bailey, and featuring local cast and crew members, this thriller follows a serial killer seeking revenge from insomnia patients that he believes stole his memories.
Mister Sleep released online on April 2 and is available on the following platforms: iTunes, Amazon, Google, YouTube, Microsoft, and Vimeo.
2025 Film Augusta Objectives
- • Effectively service production inquiries
- • Grow production gallery content to create more powerful location presentations
- • Advocate for legislation and policies to benefit productions that select Augusta as a film destination
- • Advocate for and support efforts to build a film studio in Augusta Richmond-County
- • Support efforts for film education and local job creation
- • Maximize memberships with the Location Managers Guild International and Association of Film Commissioners International
- • Hold a Georgia Entertainment event
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