Twenty-three More Counties Named Camera Ready Communities

ATLANTA, September 15, 2011— Governor Nathan Deal and the Georgia Film, Music & Digital Entertainment Office, a division of the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD), designated 23 Georgia counties Camera Ready at the annual Governor's Tourism Conference yesterday. The state's Camera Ready Community Program was started in October 2010 to support the growing film and television industry. The program now includes 112 counties across the state.
'Our aggressive tax incentive, new infrastructure and expanding crew base make Georgia the leading lady for film and television production,' said GDEcD commissioner Chris Cummiskey. 'At any given time you can find multiple productions providing jobs and investment in numerous communities across the state.'

Camera Ready was put in place by the state to offer film and television production companies access to local resources and information. The program is a special designation given to participating Georgia communities interested in attracting entertainment productions.  Local economic impact from productions can be significant, including hiring of local residents, hotel stays and purchases of goods and services. A Camera Ready Community must designate one point person who can assist film and television production companies on a local level.

The 23 Georgia counties that received the 'Camera Ready Community' designation during the Governor's luncheon were Chattooga, Catoosa, Dade, Johnson, Troup, Polk, Jackson, Liberty, Bartow, Union, Bacon, Clinch, Murray, McIntosh, Sumter, Evans, Cook, Colquitt, Spalding, Randolph, Wayne, Clarke and Putnam.

The 2008 Georgia Entertainment Industry Investment Act helped the state's entertainment industry achieve record numbers. Georgia is now among the top five states in the nation for film and TV production with more than 327 productions shot in Georgia from July 2010 through June 2011, bringing in more than $683.5 million in investment to Georgia. These projects have generated an economic impact of $2.4 billion.

Georgia-filmed movies slated to hit theatres in the coming months include a remake of 'Footloose' on October 14 and 'Wanderlust' starring Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd on February 24, 2012. Georgia can also be seen on television sets across the world with multiple television series now calling Georgia home. Season 3 of the CW's 'Vampire Diaries' airs tonight and AMC's record-breaking 'The Walking Dead' returns on October 16.

To learn more about Georgia's Camera Ready Community Program, please visit www.georgia.org/cameraready.

About GDEcD  

The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) is the state's sales and marketing arm, the lead agency for attracting new business investment, encouraging the expansion of existing industry and small businesses, locating new markets for Georgia products, attracting tourists to Georgia, and promoting the state as a destination for arts events and location for film, music and digital entertainment projects, as well as planning and mobilizing state resources for economic development. www.georgia.org