Georgia Ranks No. 4 for TV pilots

Georgia remains one of Los Angeles’ “top competitors” for television pilot productions, according to a new report by FilmL.A., the not-for-profit film office that serves the Greater L.A. region.

Out of 2016’s 201 pilots, 15 filmed in Georgia, putting it at No. 4 behind L.A. (79 pilots), New York (28 pilots) and Vancouver (25 pilots). Toronto took the No. 5 spot with 12 pilots.

States like Georgia are benefiting from L.A.’s loss because they have more lucrative tax incentive programs. In Georgia, any production that spends at least $500,000 filming in the state is eligible to receive up to 30 percent of that amount back in transferable tax credits. California’s film and tax credit program, which has been revamped several times, is much more complicated. It doles out set amounts of credits during designated time windows to different categories of projects. For instance, from June 27 to July 8, it allocated $10 million in tax credits to independent films and $70 million for non-independent feature films. From November 14 to 29, relocating TV series and other TV projects can apply for non-transferable tax credits.

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