'Hollywood of the South' feels the pinch from Marvel's slowdown

Daily Mail​

10 hours ago

Marvel shot many scenes in Georgia thanks to its generous production tax credits, with flicks that cost over $500,000 qualifying for a 20 percent base transferable tax credit. But the studio has recently been moving much of its production to the United Kingdom, citing rising costs in Georgia that make filming across the pond a cheaper option.
This most recently saw this summer's Fantastic Four reboot filmed in the UK, and the loss of Marvel's business has fueled a nearly 50 percent drop in production spending in Georgia in the past three years, per the Wall Street Journal. The entertainment industry supported almost 20,000 jobs in Georgia, with the steep drop off set to impact thousands of movie workers.
Script supervisor Janine Gosselin (pictured), 62, told the outlet that she has gone from having an overload of work with Marvel after moving to Georgia for the past two decades to now struggling to find new productions. 'You feel like a jilted lover,' she said. Gosselin said she is not alone in finding her workload drop off, and was forced to borrow from her retirement plan to pay the bills after failing to find steady work for over a year.
Following the London production of the Fantastic Four reboot, Marvel is now reportedly filming its next two Avengers movies and the next Spider-Man film in London as well. The sharp decline in the number of productions in Georgia has been a shock to the state's movie industry. This has seen only around 245 projects shot in Georgia in the fiscal year that ended in June, compared to 412 in the 2022 fiscal year.
The drop-off has also been driven by a general reduction in the number of TV shows that studios have made in recent years as streaming platforms become central to their profit margins. Much of this work has since moved overseas, and the United Kingdom has become a favorite of many studios due to its lower salary demands and the lack of a need to fund employee health insurance.
According to statistics cited by the Journal from data company ProdPro, the United Kingdom has seen a 16 percent surge in movies and TV series with budgets above $40 million in 2024 compared to 2022. In the US nationwide, there has been a 29 percent decline in this same metric.
Statewide, the entertainment industry supported almost 20,000 jobs. But now, Trilith has been struggling to fill its stages.