North Georgia Film joins with UNG, GPP to make first regional meeting a success

Two hundred guests from across different sectors of Georgia's film industry gathered at the University of North Georgia campus in Oakwood on Feb. 24, coming together for the Georgia Production Partnership's first North Georgia regional meeting. The event was a partnership between the GPP, North Georgia Film Office, UNG and the Georgia Film, Music & Digital Entertainment Office.

The meeting emphasized the opportunity that the film and television industry brings to all of Georgia, but specifically to the North Georgia region, including how productions choose filming locations and how to access various opportunities.

"As one of only eight film commissions in the state, and the only one representing the North Georgia region, it was the North Georgia Film Office's pleasure to partner with GPP, UNG and Georgia's Film, Music & Digital Entertainment to host the first regional meeting," said Rebecca Shirley, Director of the North Georgia Film Office.

Shirley said one of the primary goals of the event was to kickstart connections throughout the region in order to help our partnering communities facilitate film, television, commercial and media projects — increasing the positive economic impact of the industry.

"As the economic development arm for the city (of Dahlonega), we have chosen to market ourselves to the film industry because of the economic growth potential, job creation and the value of dollars spent locally during 'on-location' filming," Shirley said. "We worked directly with Film City for over a year to streamline and create a more sophisticated permitting process. This has allowed us to improve our efficiency and deliver a higher level of service to productions."

Key takeaways from the event included: Permitting offices partnering with state camera ready liaisons, branding your community, getting permitting and ordinances in place, getting involved in GPP and state events/festivals, and tracking local economic impact.