Where to live to work in film?

Learn my 3 key factors for living in a place with a sustainable film economy.

This is a big one & can be a very difficult decision if it requires a move.  The hard truth is films are not made consistently everywhere.

There are 3 common factors of locations where film is thriving:

1) Film incentives and tax credits

2) Big airport

3) Film infrastructure

Film incentives & tax credits

A tax incentive is a tax benefit offered by the state to save money on taxes owed. A film incentive can be any other perks like credits or spending incentives. 

What is your state’s film tax incentive? You can find this information by Googling your state’s film commissions website. This site is a great starting point in general. They often have a ton of great resources and links.

How does it compare to the big players: California & New York?

Click HERE for California’s tax credit.

Click HERE for New York’s tax credit.

Click HERE for the Georgia Film Office.

Producers and Production companies get back a certain percentage on every dollar spent. It’s a win, win. However, the political decision makers in your area may not agree a film incentive is a worthwhile endeavor. So do your research on the news of who is representing your area & what their stance is towards film and the arts.

Travel

LA and NY are the obvious big hubs for cast/crew. How easily can they fly in/out of those cities to where you are currently living?  Atlanta has an international airport and has many affordable flights to these big cities.  Automatically this sets Atlanta a big step ahead. 

Typically most stories can be shot on stage or with non-specific locations (ie homes, hospitals, police stations, school, churches). These types of locations are everywhere. It’s only when a story calls for something really specific like a certain time period or uncommon landscape do studios gravitate outside of their usual sphere of locations. Traveling a whole cast and/or crew greatly increases the cost of production. Most likely the production will need to travel a full crew if there is not a sustainable film economy in the film location. Whenever someone works outside of their jurisdiction they get paid more than just their salary. The additional costs include:

1)   weekly housing allotment or hotel costs

2)   daily meals

3)   per diem (daily allowance)

4)   idle days (paid unworked days for staying on location, away from home)

5)   travel days

6)   travel expenses (the actual ticket)

7)   car rentals

This can really increase the bottom line of just paying the cast/crew to be hired onto the project.

Plus film is a very FAST moving industry. The actual Production (or time to film) is the shortest stage of actually making a movie or episode. The pre-production and post-production stages are much longer. There is a very specific amount of days allotted for filming, so it’s important to get people where they are supposed to be quickly. 

Take a moment to look up flights in/out of where you live to CA and NY. Are they affordable, how long of a flight, is it direct?

Film Infrastructure

This is a big one that sets apart states that have films come in waves or if it’s a consistent part of the economy. When looking at this factor, check out what vendors exist for the crew. Since I come from the Art Department, I’ll speak to the importance of having a sign vendor with quick turnarounds and prop houses. Having a sign vendor with a lot of materials in stock is important to keep up with the unpredictable needs of film. Turning a sign around in a day is very common & not all vendors can accommodate this fast turnaround. Prop houses can be a great one stop shop & can save with rentals instead of purchases.

Camera, lighting, & sound are obvious MUST HAVES. Are there any AV (audio, visual) rental companies near you?  Are there any stage spaces? Nearly every movie with a million dollars or more budget has a built set. A built set is a room within a larger space, specifically designed based on the story for filming.  There’s a floor, walls, maybe a ceiling, then all the furnishings that go in it for set decoration, and any electrical and water needs within that space. It does not have to be a sound stage, but there does need to be a large warehouse space or storage space with high ceilings for lighting, sizable parking lot (for cast/crew & working trucks), elephant doors (so trucks can easily unload), and ideally some sort of sound proofing.  Set builds are typical for rain cover. If it’s raining outside, you need to be able to use this stage space for filming. In other words, you shouldn’t hear the rain.

All departments need to have their needs met with a quick turnaround (like a day or less). If the location doesn’t have any sort of existing film infrastructure then the tax incentive doesn’t matter as much because nearly everything will be bought out of state with costly, expedited, shipping.

Take Inventory

Please take the time to take inventory of all these elements before considering a move.  If this decision does require a costly and far move from your family & friends, consider how that will be on your well being.  Are you OK with starting from scratch? Or maybe you know someone who has already made that jump.  Call them up and see how they like it. 

Also, take into consideration the cost of living. Is it higher than where you are at? Will it require roommates to make it more affordable? Are you OK with that?  No matter what I highly recommend having at least 3 months (or more) worth of savings because more than likely, you will not get consistent work right away.

Maybe try the sister of film and give theater a try, which is way more accessible, and nearly everywhere. There’s an incredible amount of discipline and time that goes into making any production. Is that passion and sustainability strong enough in you? Consider playing on a local, smaller field, before making a more drastic change. You never know until you try, so get a taste before you jump all in.

Thank you for reading. Please let me know what were your biggest takeaways, what questions you have, and share this post if you think someone can benefit from this information.

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