Atlanta's 'hollywood Of The South' Fades As Film Production Plummets

Chris Ratledge utilized to make arsenic overmuch arsenic $9,500 a week moving connected movie sets astir Atlanta. Now, he’s connected nutrient stamps.

The 48-year-old integer imaging technician moved from Indiana to Georgia successful 2017 arsenic studios — lured by generous taxation credits — turned Atlanta into nan “Hollywood of nan South,” nan backdrop for hundreds of productions for illustration “The Hunger Games,” “Stranger Things” and much than a twelve Marvel blockbusters.

Ratledge said nan activity was grueling — 70-hour weeks were normal — but nan $72-an-hour salary was transformative. “I paid disconnected 3 years of backmost taxes successful 1 year, conscionable from nan money I made,” says Ratledge, who worked connected nan Netflix movie “Red Notice,” arsenic good arsenic shows for illustration TBS’ “Miracle Workers” and Starz’s “P-Valley.”

Those times are agelong gone: Ratledge has worked conscionable 4 days connected group since May 2024.

Instead, he’s been moving part-time astatine nan beforehand table of a section tennis halfway and stringing rackets connected nan side, trying someway to support his family of 5 connected $15 an hr without wellness insurance. His wife, a crab survivor, has started cleaning houses a fewer days a week, and they’ve downsized their rental home. But their $2,000-a-month income hardly moreover covers their rent, a shortfall that has near Ratledge successful indebtedness and profoundly depressed.

“All I want for Christmas is for my movie profession back,” Ratledge wrote connected Instagram successful December.

Georgia’s roar goes bust

After hitting a highest of $4.4 cardinal successful 2022, spending connected movie and TV accumulation successful Georgia has tumbled, reaching conscionable $2.3 cardinal successful nan past fiscal year, arsenic full productions dropped from 412 successful 2022 to 245 past year. The diminution accelerated aft nan 2023 writers and actors strikes halted productions for months, dealing a rustle to an manufacture still recovering from COVID-19 shutdowns.

“We saw a batch of productions commencement looking overseas, knowing that they wouldn’t person different activity stoppage,” said Lee Thomas, nan lawman commissioner of nan Georgia Film Office. “We knew that it would beryllium for illustration a reset to nan manufacture ... but it surely was a bigger, harder autumn than we anticipated — and longer.”

Marvel has near Georgia’s marketplace — its past movie filmed location was 2025’s “Thunderbolts” — and shifted its monolithic productions to nan United Kingdom, wherever labour and accumulation costs are cheaper. Streamers for illustration Netflix are besides progressively filming abroad, while producing less shows successful general. Other states, including California and Texas, person upped incentives to compete pinch Georgia’s taxation credits, which tin screen up to 30% of accumulation costs.

Local manufacture Facebook groups are filled pinch complaints astir a deficiency of work, pinch immoderate group griping astir well-established veterans taking up nan fewer jobs available, said Monique Younger, an Atlanta costume supervisor. Younger says her activity is little than half what it erstwhile was, making her “feel a small spot useless.”

Jen Farris, an Atlanta autochthonal and longtime location scout, said she utilized to cull offers because she had excessively overmuch work. Now, she’s navigating two- aliases three-month gaps successful betwixt projects, forcing her to “watch her pennies.”

“You conscionable believe that you person nested distant capable to float a small bit,” she said.

Training crews for an uncertain future

Despite nan bleak landscape, Shadowbox Studios, 1 of metro Atlanta’s largest soundstage operators, is betting connected nan area’s early and has urged section filmmakers and manufacture leaders to rethink what’s possible.

Shadowbox has been pitching its mammoth spaces to everyone from indie filmmakers to contented creators and esports organizers. But it besides wants to make judge nan city’s unit guidelines remains robust.

Atlanta has for years served arsenic nan country’s “antidote” to Hollywood blockbusters moving overseas, said Shadowbox COO Mike Mosallam, pointing to nan city’s knowledgeable crews, comparatively little accumulation costs, extended soundstage abstraction and divers landscapes. Keeping that talent pipeline beardown is cardinal to keeping much productions from leaving, he said.

In November, Shadowbox hosted astir 25 Black assemblage students for Backlot Academy, a programme launched successful 2022 to diversify nan ranks of professions wherever individual connections often find who gets hired.

Veteran unit members taught nan participants really to decipher telephone sheets, usage walkie-talkie lingo and past 12-hour days connected their feet. Participants could enroll for free successful a multiweek integer people connected nan ins and outs of accumulation and get mentorship arsenic they effort to book their first gig.

Trainee Julian Williams grew up successful Atlanta and watched his metropolis go a playground for Hollywood. One of nan “Alvin and nan Chipmunks” movies was moreover filmed connected his street. Now a 24-year-old integer media student astatine Georgia Piedmont Technical College, Williams is wished to break into nan manufacture arsenic a accumulation assistant, pinch nan dream of 1 time becoming an adjunct director.

He’s prepared to travel his movie dreams wherever they lead, but for now, he’s betting connected Atlanta and its collaborative movie community.

“People are genuinely adjuvant and consenting to stock what they know,” Williams said.

Among those helping Williams and nan different trainees was Joseph Jones, a Backlot alumnus who credits Shadowbox pinch helping him embark connected a rewarding profession arsenic a accumulation assistant. “It changed my life,” said Jones, 53, who spent years moving successful hotels but ever knew he wanted to activity connected films.

But Shadowbox officials aren’t downplaying reality: The manufacture is down, particularly successful Atlanta. On nan time of nan training, conscionable 1 of Shadowbox’s 9 soundstages was booked for a production, said Jeremiah Cullen, head of sales.

Cullen said Shadowbox has been forced to adapt, cutting deals to meet filmmakers’ budgets while often calling erstwhile clients to spot really they tin fresh their needs.

“Hey, we miss you connected nan lot,” he tells them. “You sewage thing cooking?”

Searching for a reset

Ratledge grew up loving movies, too, particularly when, arsenic a 9-year-old, he saw his agrarian Indiana municipality of Milan immortalized successful 1986’s “Hoosiers.” He has continued to scope retired to his network, but he’s fresh to move on.

Ratledge said he isn’t looking for a occurrence — conscionable 1 dependable TV occupation that would springiness him breathing room to stabilize his finances and fig retired his adjacent move. A five- aliases six-month series, he said, would let him to reconstruct his wellness insurance, record for bankruptcy and “hit nan reset button.”

“I don’t deliberation I’m immoderate different than nan group who worked successful Detroit erstwhile nan car manufacture collapsed successful nan ‘70s and everything went overseas,” he said.

It’s a interest moreover President Donald Trump has weighed successful on, calling past twelvemonth for tariffs aimed astatine keeping movie accumulation successful nan U.S. — a scheme that experts person called vague and impractical.

Thomas, of nan Georgia Film Office, said that business is up importantly from nan past fiscal year. She partially credits nan rebound to a caller authorities rule that allows Georgia’s taxation incentives to use to much types of productions, including short-form vertical videos and free ad-supported streaming channels for illustration Tubi.

Some Atlanta veterans still spot a way forward, including Farris, nan location scout. She said excessively galore talented, imaginative group are successful Atlanta for it each to simply slice away.

“People moved their families here. They’re raising children here. This wasn’t conscionable astir film,” she said. “It changed our scenery — it brought successful superb caller minds. Artists. Creators. And I really judge Georgia will find a measurement to foster an wholly caller activity of creator possibility.”

Rico writes for nan Associated Press. T