Hollywood goes shopping for Georgia retail film locations

“Once you do one major picture — our first was Anchorman 2, in 2013 — the same scouts and photographers just keep coming back,” said Dawn Marx, who manages the property for Banyan Street Capital. The industry is generating serious revenue for Peachtree Center in the form of contracts granting permission to film on site, says Marx. “These folks do not talk money until they have already decided on the spot where they want to film,” she said. “They do not seem to be on a budget.”

Peachtree Center is not the only commercial property to benefit from this boom. “Georgia is now within the top three film markets — behind New York and Los Angeles,” said Craig Dominey, a state economic development official who helps TV and film crews find shooting locations. “Plenty of commercial properties here are being used as either filming locations or, perhaps, as temporary stages.”

Over the past decade or so, Peach State lawmakers have ramped up incentives aimed at luring the creators of movies, TV shows and commercials, music videos and video games. The carrots include a 20 percent tax break, along with an additional 10 percent tax credit. According to state officials, a total of 320 movies and TV shows were shot in Georgia during the fiscal year ended June 30 — and the economic benefit totaled some $9.5 billion.

Retail landlords may put forth their properties to be considered for use as filming sites, warehouses, offices or temporary stages by visiting Georgia.org, says Dominey. “We have a link where you can upload photos and other information,” he said. “People submit all kinds of properties: houses, shopping complexes, abandoned industrial sites, open land — you name it.”

In addition to paying for the right to film at properties, TV shows draw tourists and fans to retail centers and restaurants in the places where they are filmed, Dominey says. “We call it ‘film-induced tourism,’ ” he said.

Film crews handle their own security and crowd management, Marx says, so prep work is the only real challenge for property managers involved in these projects. “It’s things like letting them go to the spaces to take photos,” Marx said. “They might call and say they need a room with a generic view of the skyline — nothing identifiable as Atlanta — so they can make it look like another city. If they like it, they’ll start bringing more and more people. Before you know it, you’re discussing the contract.”