How Jimmy Carter brought Hollywood to the Peach State

MORE: Celebrating the life, legacy of Jimmy Carter

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Among Jimmy Carter’s countless accomplishments over his 100 years, arguably the longest-lasting and most impactful — at least, in Georgia — is the creation of the state’s film commission, which now oversees a multi-billion-dollar industry.

“Deliverance,” one of the first films shot in Georgia, was based on writer James Dickey’s debut novel of the same name. Released in 1972 and starring Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox and Jon Voight, it was filmed in northeast Georgia communities of Clayton and Rabun counties, and became a huge commercial success (Dickey himself made a cameo appearance toward the end of the film).

“Gov. Jimmy Carter started our office in 1973 because of ‘Deliverance,’” said Lee Thomas, deputy commissioner of the Georgia film music and digital entertainment office. “He realized this is money coming from outside the state and bringing money to a very poor part of the state, and he wanted to figure out how to get more.”

MORE FROM NEWS 12:

Reynolds, arguably Hollywood’s most famous leading man of his era, began shooting several of his later films in Georgia, including “The Longest Yard” in 1974, “Gator” in 1976, “Smokey and the Bandit” in 1977, “Cannonball Run” in 1980, “Smokey and the Bandit II” in 1980 and “Sharky’s Machine” in 1981, which was filmed almost exclusively in Atlanta.

“By 1974, we had built an entire whitewater-rafting industry on the back of ‘Deliverance,’” said state Rep. Ron Stephens (R-Lyons). “The city of Covington was telling us that 75% of their tourism came from people wanting to see where ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’ and ‘In the Heat of the Night’ were made. In Savannah, people wanted to see the park bench in ‘Forrest Gump.’”

As Hollywood film costs began soaring in the 1990s, other nations began ing tax credits to lure film companies outside the U.S. Hollywood and the Motion Picture Association began lobbying Congress to provide financial incentives to spur domestic film production.

In 2004, as part of the American Jobs Creation Act, Congress included an addendum that provided immediate tax write-offs for domestic film production. That spurred states such as Georgia to provide their own tax incentive programs.

The Georgia Entertainment Industry Investment Act was ed by the General Assembly in 2005 and signed by Gov. Sonny Perdue. It provided a 10% tax credit for production companies that spent money in the state. Three years later, that tax credit was increased to 20%, and an additional 10% was tacked on for any film that included the “Made in Georgia” logo in its end credits.