Georgia’s Creative Economy: Innovation Beyond Film

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studio in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio, brought to you by My Global Presence, the award winning Atlanta public relations agency that elevates brands and non-profits through authentic storytelling and national media campaigns. Find them at myglobalpresence.com. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here, another episode of Atlanta Business Radio. And this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, My Global Presence. If you want global visibility and meaningful impact, go to myglobalpresence.com. Today on the show, we have the president and CEO with Georgia Entertainment News, Randy Davidson. Welcome.

Randy Davidson: Hey, Lee. Thank you for having me.

Lee Kantor: Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about Georgia Entertainment News. How are you serving folks?

Randy Davidson: So Lee, so quickly because I know she’s going to be listening. I am CEO and founder, but I do have a very capable president. Her name is Jeslyn Moyer. So I just wanted to make that adjustment there. But we are a media company. Lee that this is our 10th year in business. We’ve been covering the film and entertainment industry for the state for the for the past decade and watched it grow not only only in Atlanta, but throughout the state of Georgia. And so as a media company, we’ve got a little twist, which I’ll share in a moment, but as a media company, we’re. Georgia entertainment.com has news and interviews and, you know, and it’s not like TMZ, like we saw Brad Pitt at the Starbucks. It’s, it’s more, more in line with the business impact and the economic, um, aspects of what entertainment has done for Georgia. Um, so our website is very, very busy with that, with that content. We have busy social channels, um, especially on Instagram and LinkedIn. And then we do a lot of events. We do a lot of events in Georgia around the state. And then we also go internationally and we do events and activations at Cannes, at the film festival there, and in France, also Sundance and South by Southwest in Austin. And, um, and in September, we’ll be headed to Toronto, to the Toronto International Film Festivals, where we tell event producers, creators and filmmakers that they need to be doing their, their work in Georgia.

Lee Kantor: So now do you mind sharing a little bit about kind of the lay of the land we where we are today? Because the industry has changed quite a bit in the ten years you’ve been covering it. Um, where are we today when it comes to the amount of production and the amount of opportunity you see for Georgia?

Randy Davidson: Well, Lee, you know, first, I think it’s really important for, for, for people to realize that, um, you know, the state of Georgia has an incentive for film. And so whenever there’s a film production done in Georgia, uh, there’s a, there’s a 20 to 30% incentive. And this is offered by other states or variations. Um, you know, and that, that drives production so early on. And when we got started, we, you know, we were doing big projects, you know, Avengers, Black Panther, Spider-Man, etc., you know, and really what, what’s as a result of that incentive? But as a result of that, the just generally the creative industries in Georgia just started to really explode. Communities, um, really embraced their creatives And, you know, in the past, in my generation, I’m I’m 55 this year. But, you know, being a creative or being involved in film or the arts or music that was stigmatized and one of the, one of, one of the growth areas for the state is that that’s now, you know, really part of our economic structure as a state. But in terms of production and what’s happened in recent years is that the gatekeepers are gone. You know, the technology has it’s not it’s no longer it’s no, we’re no one’s no longer waiting for, um, LA or, or another central place to green light projects, you know, with, with, with the internet and with, with the distribution. Um, you know, broadcast TV’s not as, as, as prevalent as it was. There’s so many outlets for people to share and express, you know, TikTok and, uh, YouTube and, you know, all sorts of niche distribution outlets. It’s really changed the way production has been done. So what I always tell people is that content consumption continues to rise. And, but the production, um, of how it’s done is evolving quickly. So it’s an exciting time to be here, but it’s definitely different than before, especially in terms of the size of budgets for projects that we, we, we used to see, you know, even five, ten years ago.

Lee Kantor: Now, I guess the, one of the unintended consequences on the positive side of having all of that activity ten years ago is it enabled us to kind of build an infrastructure that’s probably pretty useful for today’s creators. Can you talk about, um, how we stand in that from looking at it through that lens of there’s a lot of stuff here now that makes it easier to produce things for other people.

Randy Davidson: It really is. Lee. I mean, the, and I’ve gotta. I’ve gotta definitely talk about the tourism angle. The economic development that happens within communities that really embrace, um, film and music and their, and their creative sectors. So, you know, Walking Dead basically made Senoia. Georgia. You know, I mean, it’s still, it’s still got a long runway of, of, uh, of economic development because that show, um, really struck a chord with, with the world, you know, and to, to this day, there’s restaurants and sidewalks, you know, it’s, it’s, uh, memorialized all over the place there. Um, even, even over in Covington, where Vampire Diaries, uh, still has annual conventions there, you know, and that show’s been over forever. So, so that’s been one big benefit. And that folks realize is that being embracing creatives and productions and, um, filmmakers, it has definitely an economic impact even beyond the direct spend they do when they’re actually doing the project in terms of resources and infrastructure. We are we’re loaded. So, you know, and we when in the past ten years, Georgia became a spot that many in the entertainment industries from New York, London, Toronto, LA, they wanted to come to because when they shot here, they saw a different pace, a different vibe, a different culture. And many, many of those folks found found it being a place that they wanted to be. So and then because of the Georgia Film Academy and other, you know, universities, the university system of Georgia, them leaning into the creative industries, we have a big workforce. And so early on, you know, 15 years ago, people were importing workers to the state. And that’s you rarely hear about that anymore. We’ve got the talent and we definitely have the infrastructure.

Lee Kantor: Now, when you’re kind of covering entertainment is that kind of we’ve talked a lot about film, but that expands also into obviously TV, but digital and then all kinds of content creation, video games, music, like we do a little bit of everything here, don’t we?

Randy Davidson: Yeah. Lee I, you kind of hit the hit really what we’ve been sharing and really what’s really in my heart and for Georgia recently is, you know, think of, think of today, think, think of it as I know intellectual property sounds like a technical, legal word. But think let’s not use intellectual property. Let’s think a story. So you’ve got a story and you know, it might not be a movie, it might be a podcast, it might be an event, it might be a game, and then it might be a movie. So so if you think of the story as I always say, let’s go upstream, Georgia, you know, let’s go to the intellectual property, to the storytellers, and then let’s just make sure we’ve got all the outlets the way how they’re going to monetize it. How are they going to express it? Let’s make sure we’re supporting all that. And we definitely have, you know, venues, we have, you know, expertise for game development and things like that. So the idea is, yeah, it’s beyond film films. Just one, you know, just one of the monetization lanes that somebody has a story about. I know I have a we’re in Cartersville today, Georgia. We have a big event tonight at the Savoy Museum where local creators are here, elected officials, people from Atlanta, Savannah, Macon, they they’re coming up for this event. And, and they’re all here to, you know, figure out, you know, not only to network, but they’re also coming into this city, into this region to explore the assets that that that is here. So that’s their locations. That’s their, That’s the workforce. That’s the stance that the community has, which anybody that comes tonight is going to know that Cartersville is ready, ready for, for for your creative project and has the resources for you. So, um, yeah, you’re definitely right. Lee. It is, it is. That’s one thing we’ve got to get into our into our, the mind of our elected leaders and local officials is it’s beyond film for sure.

Lee Kantor: So now at this event, like, why is it in Cartersville? And what are some of the things that are going to happen at it?

Randy Davidson: So, so we, we last year, we did 25 events in Georgia and around the world, as I mentioned before, we, you know, at the at the international film festivals and the national film festivals. But, but we, we go to Cartersville, we’ve been to Warner Robins. We do obviously a lot of events in Atlanta, Columbus, Savannah will be in Savannah in July. And the reason we do these is is one of our rallying mantras is is rally locally recruit globally. So tonight’s Cartersville event to me is, is our, is our, is our rallying locally type initiative. And what’s going to happen tonight is at between 5 and 8. There’s going to be great networking, but there’s going to be a panel that’s going to talk to locals about what what’s happening with their creative industries here in Cartersville and in Georgia. And then there’ll be additional networking. And then there’s an after party that will allow for networking from eight to midnight at a place called elevate in downtown Cartersville, which is a, you know, is a is a venue, but there’ll be additional additional opportunities, excuse me, opportunities for all of our attendees to connect and lead. But I’ve looked at the we’ve got people from Georgia Power from we’ve got people from the legislature going to be here, the mayor is going to be here, and that’s what it is. And they’re all going to be here with filmmakers, creatives, musicians. It’s this incredible meshing, um, of individuals that just brings really a lot of a lot of optimism and excitement for the community. I’d love to see you, Lea, come to one of our events. Yeah, definitely. Soon.

Lee Kantor: Well, um, when you’re, when you’re in other places outside of Georgia, kind of what’s the elevator pitch you give them because, you know, you mentioned the tax incentives and it seems like now, you know, we’re obviously that’s not the only game in town. There’s a lot of other locales all over the world that are leveraging tax incentives to attract creators. Um, what’s kind of your elevator pitch when you’re talking to people about what makes Georgia, um, special and why they should consider Georgia as the place to come when it comes to creating?

Randy Davidson: Well, Lee, we, you know, having been doing this for a few years, I have a very good elevator pitch, but it’s very short and it’s really you think about it, the net benefit for Georgia is, is, is southern hospitality. And when people come to our events, they see me, they see Jaslyn our president, they see our team, they see other partners that are alongside with us. They see we really want their business. In fact, Lee, surprisingly, at at some of these at some of these, um, places that I’ve spoken about before, South by Southwest Georgia is the only state that is in the recruiting mode. So, you know, there’s other other other events and activations and things like that, but they’re around companies and so forth. We are actively recruiting and showcasing that. And we’ve heard producers and directors and creatives from around the world that have come here and just had a wonderful time. They love the service. They love, you know, the aspect that’s really just described as southern southern hospitality. Um, and in general, the ease of, you know, cutting through red tape to get things done here. And that’s our reputation. And I feel like that’s something that we stand on and that’s something that’s very important to, to creators, creators. They’re looking for the place that has the less that has, has the least amount of friction. And when you become have a reputation for, for, for, uh, turnkey and service and things like that, those things actually really matter.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. It’s funny you bring that up because I do a lot of work in the startup community and technology, and that’s kind of the the mantra there as well that Atlanta, we play well together. It’s very collaborative. It isn’t as cutthroat. Um, it’s, it’s more, you know, there’s a lot of public private, uh, collaborations and cooperation and, and we’re all kind of trying to work together to make things happen instead of, you know, kind of creating that friction that a lot of places around the world that happens when you go there.

Randy Davidson: Mhm. Absolutely, absolutely. I agree, I’m glad that I’m glad to hear you say that too, because, you know, really what’s happened with our business. I mentioned going upstream to the story and really to the intellectual property. And, you know, from working with the startup, with startups, it’s all that’s all merging in together to innovation technology, um, you know, intellectual property. Those are all terms that you got. I know you’re involved with and are using and are looking for and Georgia needs to, um, create, you know, that’s what we need to do in general. Not only do we need to create movies, we need to create businesses. And, and really what’s exciting is that the younger generation, they’re way more creative than I, than I was. And our generation, you know, they, they, they, they exercised their mind that the right side of their brain. It wasn’t as stigmatizing as it was when I was young and. And now you take those people, you take the young folks and the future workforce and you put them in an industry like banking, even, you know, not I’m not even talking about movie making. You put them into banking or fintech. There’s that’s that’s the efficiencies and, and what I, what I see as the innovation economy that is really standing right before us as those brains and those minds from Georgia move into all of our economic infrastructure. It’s going to be a big deal for the future.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. And like you said, it’s that blurring of the lines, innovation, creativity, all of those things in every industry. You really have to get good at that if you want to stand out. Because even in today’s world, and I think this contributes to why so many young people are getting involved in the creator economy, is that the barrier to entry is, you know, next to nothing now. You know, your phone is a camera and a recording device that, you know, when we were younger, we would be paying thousands of dollars to rent equipment to make the thing that they can just flip on their phone and create something of better quality, faster and cheaper than we could even dream of when we were younger.

Randy Davidson: Absolutely. That’s so rightly and in the distribution that everybody is working, you know, is wondering about like, is Netflix going to distribute this or is Sony going to distribute this? The creators of the day, they don’t even need that. You know, they don’t even need that, that, that, that validation that their things are good enough and they’re ready to go. I mean, in fact, the, some of the biggest and I won’t go into all of that right now, but some of the biggest, um, uh, successes has been people that built followings, greenlighting their own projects, you know, over time on YouTube and TikTok. And it’s like, and things like that. And then Netflix and Amazon and those folks come by, come come knocking, you know, and they, they want the project and they want to take it to the theaters or take it to some other situation. So yeah, I mean, that’s, that’s the future. And, and I think that’s the case, not beyond film. It’s the, it’s the case for, for, for startups and the entrepreneurial, um, uh, ecosystem of the world really, but I’m hoping that Georgia is uniquely positioned, you know, to, to succeed there.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. It’s, you know, we’ve kind of gotten rid of the creation part of the equation, but it’s the distribution and not distribution, but to be found in a sea of content that becomes now the biggest challenge is how do you get eyeballs or ears on your content when the, you know, everybody’s swimming in content, how do you stand out? How can you do something that separates yourself from all the other people that are, you know, putting content out into the world.

Randy Davidson: Yeah. That that’s truly I mean, it’s, you know, the good thing too, though, that’s happened with all of that is that you also don’t need 5 million people for a project to succeed. You know, in some cases, you need 1000 or 500. Right.

Lee Kantor: Right. It goes back to that thousand, you know, fans, uh, kind of thinking about the internet back in the day that that used to be, if I can just find a thousand people that like what I’m doing and can support me, then that’s enough for me to kind of make it. And I think we’re going back to that. And that’s, and that’s where I think a lot of projects should begin with that kind of mindset.

Randy Davidson: Yes. Find your tribe, find your fan base. Everybody, everybody’s followers is a pyramid, you know, is a triangle. And you’re looking for the top of the triangle. You’re looking to service those folks. You’re looking for that, that top portion to expand. Expand. And, you know, I think brands I was, you know, when we were at Cannes, I was here listening to a brand talk about like, each person represents X dollars annually of spending. Think about that for a second. So think about me for. So I’ve got a car payment, I got this, I got that. Let’s just say I’m spending, let’s say I’m spending $150,000 a year and I’m just one person. So if, if a brand can look at it that way and like of that, they broke it down and they probably know how much I spend on paper products, you know, or toilet paper or paper plates or whatever. They’ve got some theory. So they’re even looking at trying to micro understand these smaller audiences. That’s huge.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. And that’s where people like you and I, when we have, uh, media platforms, uh, that serve a niche. That’s our superpower. I mean, you know, within our niche, people know who we are. I mean, that’s right. And let’s talk a little bit about your niche. You tell us about the Georgia Insider and and what that’s doing.

Randy Davidson: Yeah. Well, thanks, Lee, for for mentioning that too. That’s something that we’re launching right now. I mean, we, what we realized with what we just really were just talking about is that is that at the top of our triangle, the most qualified and committed of our readers, fans or whatever you want to call them, the folks that are really consuming. They’re looking for something different. So we, we are built. Georgia insider is, is a moves one from reader event goer to community member. And within that community, we’re going to be doing special things. We’re going to be doing private dinners, small curated, very, um, you know, high end content, select content. Um, and also, you know, um, giving them access to certain things that others will not. As an example, I’ll tell you about Cartersville. Today our event starts at 5 to 8, but between 4 and 5 p.m. we have 20 insiders coming, Georgia Insider members, and they’re going to see the private owners collection at the Savoy Museum, which is an automobile museum that’s not out in public. And with with that group is going to be Representative Matt Campbell and Matt. Representative Gamble is the governor’s floor leader. He’s one of the most influential legislators in the state. Thankfully, he’s very, uh, pro entrepreneurs, pro startup, pro creative industries. And, you know, our members get to engage with him in an intimate, intimate setting. So that’s an example of how actually it’s an example of how both of the Georgia Entertainment and Georgia insider work together. But it’s an example of like, of us trying to elevate opportunities for our members to connect with each other. Um, and I, and I believe Lee that that Georgia insider is the AI killer because AI cannot replace the need. And for us to have that belonging and for us to have that physical, um, you know, uh, experience that, that we all need to have in order for most businesses to succeed.

Lee Kantor: Especially hyper local ones. I mean, when you’re doing business in a hyper local manner, face to face, human to human, that’s what that’s how business gets done. You know, AI isn’t going to close business. Uh, when it takes somebody’s looking somebody in the eye and shaking their hand and knowing they can trust them, knowing they like them, uh, knowing they believe in what they believe in that is aligned with their mission as well. All those things are what helps business get done. And that’s what I think is, uh, like you mentioned is the southern hospitality. That’s the secret sauce of Georgia that, um, that gets so much business done here and why our economy is thriving and it’s so diverse. I mean, most states don’t have as diverse of an economy as Georgia does. I mean, we have, you know, ports and airports, international airports, and we’re doing business across so many different sectors because it’s just such a good place to do business.

Randy Davidson: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Where do you, uh, I know, I know you’re supposed to be asking the questions, Lee, but where do you live?

Lee Kantor: I live in Sandy Springs.

Randy Davidson: Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. And I, and I live I live in Forsyth County, you know, up and coming up, 400. You know where that is? Sure. Um, you know, and I feel like the growth of Georgia, the population. Boom. I saw some chamber data earlier this year, um, about what’s happening. It’s, you know, Georgia, Georgia is, is a, is a very attractive place to be. And I just I’m, I’m optimistic that we that we have a great place to to that we’re sitting in a great place sometimes I’ll say it. And I don’t know if people are from these places, but, you know, I think of Iowa or Wisconsin or Mississippi, Mississippi and things. And I’m sure that folks that live there are very great. But they, I feel like they, they don’t have an innovation identity. Georgia is expected to lead. And I love that about Georgia. I love that about our state. I love, you know, the the leadership of the state generally feels that way. We want to we want to be active. We want to be proactive, you know, and, and we have that identity. So, you know, I’m just excited about excited about our future.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. Me too. I’m bullish about Georgia’s future. I think that as long as we can stay the course and be, you know, have that southern hospitality And really be collaborative. Then the sky’s the limit. I mean, George is big. It’s a big state. It’s not just Atlanta. I mean, there’s a lot of business happening all around. And you can see how even the center of gravity of Atlanta is changing and moving. So, um, it just keeps expanding. It’s not contracting.

Randy Davidson: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

Lee Kantor: So what’s your look in your crystal ball? What do you see next for what’s happening in Georgia entertainment.

Randy Davidson: So I see I see us continuing to expand, um, and innovate and, and, uh, you know, even I, I see that, I mean, I’m very excited about Georgia insider. I see that, that I see that going to what we talked about earlier, Lee, where we, where we are, um, really meshed in. I mean, we’re getting technology executives, innovation executives. I mean, I looked at the list of the attendees tonight. There’s 294 people that were scheduled to be here tonight. Now, I don’t know what, what, what their attrition rate will be, but, um, and the variety of those business owners that are coming. Some of them don’t have anything to do with a film project, but they have everything to do with a, uh, with innovation or tech or fintech or accounting or, you know, anything, uh, you know, lots of other things that are intersecting, but not necessarily direct.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. That’s great. I mean, that’s, that’s a bullish sign for what’s going on. I mean, the fact that that many people are, you know, getting in their car and going to Cartersville tells you, I mean, they’re they’re walking the walk. They’re that’s that’s for real.

Randy Davidson: Yes, for sure. For sure. Well, I’d love to come back to and, and share some.

Lee Kantor: Absolutely. I would love for you to 100%. We’ll definitely make that happen now. What do you need more of? How can we help you? I guess you need some more insiders would probably be good. But what else do you need?

Randy Davidson: Well, no, I mean, you know, I think, you know, this platform is great. I mean, you know, the more that we can share, um, you know, one of one of the things that we’re doing with Georgia Insider is, is, is, um, you know, we have some innovative leaders and writers and things like that that will be submitting content to that, to that audience. That will be, I guess behind a wall is kind of the way to explain it, but it’s, it’s where we’re investing in that and we’re paying for this content, you know, to bring it out and bring it forward, authentic, authentic, and real, real, uh, you know, real content. And so, you know, I think the main thing that we just, we need is just opportunities to be able to share periodically the insights that we have. Uh, Lee and, and I think if, if perhaps there’s a, you know, there’s a cadence of quarterly or some periodic period, we’re traveling all the time. So being able to come and share with you, you know, what we’re seeing? What we found? What what what what are our challenges and what are our opportunities as we see it in real time? I think that that that would be your platform is great for us to share that. And I think it definitely would deliver, you know, some value to, to your audience.

Lee Kantor: Well, I mean, so, uh, that sounds great to me. I would love for you to come back and, and share what’s happening because I think it’s important. It’s an important sector for Georgia. And, um, we definitely want to see growth in this area. And especially when we expand the definition of entertainment beyond film to all the other ways that people entertain each other. I think there’s definitely room for that on our calendar. So we’ll definitely make that happen. So if somebody wants to connect with you or learn more, what’s a website? What’s the best way to connect?

Randy Davidson: Yeah. If you want to email me directly, I’m randy@georgiaentertainment.com and Georgia spelled out, and our website is georgiaentertainment.com and our social handles, you know, just search Georgia Entertainment. We would love to see you. And you’ll. From there, you’ll see all of our events that we have. Most of our events, um, you know, are open for folks to come and they just have to register. Most all of our events are stand by, you know, get to a standby status, which is great. But, um, but, you know, I think, I think folks, especially audience, you know, your audience, the savvy audience, that would be, you know, listening to this, to the, to your, to your show would be folks that we would love to have and entertain. So, uh, look us up and let, let us know if we can help you.

Lee Kantor: Sounds good. Well, Randy, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Randy Davidson: Thank you. Lee.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Atlanta Business Radio.