479 NEWS
Georgia Film Industry Advocate Speaker David Ralston Passes
Today we are saddened to report the passing of Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives, David Ralston, long an advocate of the Georgia film industry.
For more than 12 years Speaker Ralston has been a stalwart supporter of Georgia’s film industry and the jobs that it has provided our members. He helped shape, strengthen, and protect Georgia’s film tax incentive.
“I am excited by the success of this industry. As long as I sit in that office, there will be no bigger fan of that tax credit and this industry than I am.”
House Speaker David Ralston, Atlanta Journal Constitution, 15 March 2017
Please join us in offering our most sincere condolences to his family and loved ones.
Georgia Productions Set New Record in 2022 Fiscal Year
The Georgia Film, Music & Digital Entertainment Office, a division of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, reported that productions spent $4.4 billion in Georgia during fiscal year 2022. The press release is provided below.
ATLANTA – August 1, 2022 – Governor Brian P. Kemp today announced a chart-topping year for the film and television industry as productions spent $4.4 billion in Georgia during fiscal year 2022 – a new industry record. The Georgia Film Office, a strategic office within the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD), reported that the State of Georgia hosted 412 productions, represented by 32 feature films, 36 independent films, 269 television and episodic productions, 42 commercials, and 33 music videos between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022.
Film Industry References Removed from HB 1437
THANK YOU.
The current threat to Georgia’s film tax credit is over.
Your activism, in coordination with our industry partners and the support of our friends in the Georgia Legislature, helped eliminate recent unwanted amendments to HB 1437.
Yesterday (Wednesday), the bill was sent back to the Senate Rules Committee.
Later in the day I met directly with the Governor, key Senate leadership, and our industry colleagues to reaffirm the widespread support for the State’s motion picture industry.
Today (Thursday) all references to the film industry tax credit were stripped from HB 1437, and the bill was passed out of the committee. It is expected to be placed on the Senate calendar for tomorrow (Friday).
At this time IATSE Local 479 has no further concerns with HB 1437.
We encourage you to reach out to your legislators and thank them for their continuing support of Georgia’s motion picture industry.
You can identify your legislators by visiting https://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/.
In Solidarity,
Michael Akins
Local 479 Business Agent
HB 1437: Your Activism is Working
Your activism is working with HB 1437. More progress will be made. Read more to see the next steps we need to take.
Thank you for your emails and phone calls to members of the Georgia Senate last night and this morning. Your activism is working; namely, HB 1437 with the offensive film tax credit language was removed from today’s vote calendar and sent back to the General Calendar, so the bill can be cleaned up by removing the tax credit cap and the transferability language.
HB 1437 has to go through some legislative steps and we have another chance to impact on that process, so please look at the attached link to the list of Senators with email addresses and phone numbers and send them another message to first thank them for recommitting HB 1437 and then to ask for the removal of PART III, Section 3-1 in the current bill which contains the negative film tax credit language (caps and transferability).
You have a chance to repeat today’s success with another display of how important it is for the Legislature not to disturb current film tax credit law which has proven to be so helpful to job creation in our industry.
Please click the link below to access the contact list for the Senators.
Click here to download list of Senators
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Urgent: Georgia’s Film Industry in Danger
On Monday, the Georgia Senate Finance Committee unexpectedly proposed a measure that would amend HB1437, capping the film tax credit at $900 million annually, and eliminating the ability to transfer credits out of state.
The consequences of these two amendments to our tax credit would be devastating.
This amended bill is set to go before the Senate floor TODAY.
We believe that it is important to reach out to the Republican majority senators and ask them to please vote to “re-commit HB 1437 to the Rules Committee” when it comes to the floor today.
We have compiled a list of those Senators and are asking you to reach out and request that they send HB 1437 back to committee.
Please click the link below to access the contact list for the Senators.
Click here to download list of Senators
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58th CAS Awards Nominations Include Local 479
IATSE Local 479 is pleased to announce that two of our members, Michael Filosa and Christopher Giles have been nominated for the 58th CAS Awards For Outstanding Achievement In Sound Mixing For 2021.
Mike was nominated for his work on Cobra Kai, Season 3, Episode 10 (Netflix). Read about Mike’s work on Cobra Kai on prosoundweb.com
Chris was nominated for his work on WandaVision Episode 8, “Previously On’ (Disney+). Read about Chris’ work on WandaVision on btlnews.com
Congratulations also go out to Local 479 members Alana Knutson and Jason Lewis for their work on the Disney+ series Hawkeye, Episode 3, “Echoes”, under Sound Mixer Pud Cusack, CAS (Local 695).
The 58th Annual CAS Awards will take place on Saturday, March 19, 2022, at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown Hotel in the Wilshire Grand Ballroom.
Are you a 479 member who has been nominated for an industry award? Please contact [email protected] with the details so we can share your news with our membership.
2021 Setting Record for Volume of Work
I am pleased to announce that 2021 has already set new records for the volume of work in our jurisdiction. Folks, you may want to postpone your vacation plans for a later date because it’s going to be a VERY busy summer.
We have built it, and they have come
Over the last 13 years, we have built a reputation as being one of the top production locations in the world. The membership of Local 479 has been instrumental in creating this reputation. Companies know that they can hire quality crew here to produce their product. We have proven time and again that we are ready, willing, and able to meet and exceed their expectations, and that is why more opportunities continue to come our way.
Whether it is due to, or possibly despite the pandemic, our society today relies more heavily than ever on the products WE make, and that has fueled the exponential growth of the motion picture industry and increased the methods of distribution of our content, all of which serves to create more jobs and more opportunities for all of us. As long as we continue to uphold our reputation of being a premiere production location with an outstanding crew base, we should have every expectation of a prosperous future.
Look at the stats:
Snapshot of Production in Atlanta (as of TODAY, May 22, 2021)
- 47 active projects under contract
- 43 productions have already wrapped and it’s only May
- 30 of those started and wrapped in 2021
- 38% of our work product is Streaming Video on Demand
- Current production volume, by product:
- Episodics: 15
- Features: 14
- Streaming Video on Demand: 18
Get Ready to Vote!
Are You Registered Yet? Do It Now!
Are you registered to vote? If not, it’s time to GET READY TO VOTE! To begin, just follow this link to check to see if you are registered to vote and to get registered to vote! Note that you must be registered on or before the established deadlines to vote in upcoming elections.
Where to Vote
There’s only one place you can vote in person, so it’s vital that you know the location of that polling place prior to Election Day. Simply go to the Georgia My Voter page, and under MVP login enter your first initial, your last name, your county of residence, and your birthdate.
If your information is correct you will be provided with a page of information, including the address of your polling place, sample ballots, a link for requesting an absentee ballot, and a list of your elected officials, specific to the location of your residence.
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Doug Collins Requests Financial Relief for Georgia’s Film Industry
United States Representative Doug Collins has written a letter of support for our industry to the Speaker of the House, encouraging Congress to pursue financial relief for entertainment workers affected by the pause in production due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Freelancers, contractors, gig workers and the entertainment industry make significant contributions to our communities and economy here in Georgia. As Congress considers relief for American workers, I’m hopeful these folks will be offered similar protections as other industries.”
Doug Collins, United States House of Representatives
As the International IATSE notes, Doug has been a champion for the entertainment industry in Georgia, and we thank him for joining the dozens of congresspeople on both sides of the aisle fighting to make sure congress doesn’t leave IATSE members behind.
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Coronavirus Updates for Members
We have created a post on the Member Dashboard containing all the latest information about COVID-19, including an updated list of show statuses, the latest news from IATSE International, news from the National Benefits Fund, statements from studios regarding COVID-19, and current Public Health notifications about testing and treatment for COVID-19.
Note that you must log in to access this information.