An Atlanta native is discussing the future of the city's film industry. John Henry Hinkel, a Midtown resident and Liaison Pictures founder, is among those considering what comes next for Georgia's production scene.
Hinkel's outlook comes as Atlanta's overall film production has declined nearly 50% over the past three years, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which reported the figure came from the Wall Street Journal. The AJC also reports that Georgia's film production has slowed significantly after 18 years of tax credits and near-constant big-budget filming, with Marvel Studios among the companies that have started moving projects to England, where labor costs run cheaper than in Georgia, per the same report.
Hollywood's Retreat and Atlanta's Film Industry
Rather than viewing Hollywood's departure as strictly bad news, Hinkel suggested it might be a blessing for Atlanta.
Georgia's own pitch to the industry backs up part of that case. The state advertises an up-to-30% tax credit on eligible production expenses, with no annual cap and no sunset clause, according to georgia.org. The state also promotes more than 10,000 statewide filming locations alongside what it calls a well-established industry backed by talented crews and diverse locations. A recent industry comparison from GreenSlate notes that Georgia and New Jersey both offer fully transferable film tax credits, a structure it says is more generous than California's incentive, which is transferable only for independent projects, or New York's, which isn't transferable at all.
John Henry Hinkel
Hinkel is Liaison Pictures' founder.
Liaison Pictures has several credits, including Coroner to the Stars, a documentary about former Los Angeles County chief medical examiner Dr. Thomas Noguchi. The film won a 2025 audience award at the Slamdance Film Festival in Los Angeles.
A Seance Film and a Microbudget Horror-Romance
Liaison Pictures also co-produced Behemoth Ann Holds a Seance alongside Because the Night Productions, a film set in Atlanta and co-directed by Isidore Bethel, according to the AJC. That project is slated for a 2028 release.
The Post-Production Piece of the Puzzle
Part of what makes Atlanta viable for indie producers is the local post-production ecosystem. Moonshine Post, a full-service post-production company based in Atlanta's Glenwood Park, offers editing, color correction, sound, visual effects and mastering services for film, television and advertising projects, according to Moonshine Post. The company says its work is affordable for both studio and independent productions and is eligible for Georgia's tax incentive, and it has handled full post-production — editing, color, sound, VFX and delivery — for the independent film IDIOTS.
Moonshine Post has also reported a surprising uptick this year in feature films shooting in Georgia, describing the activity as a potential renaissance for the state's production landscape. The scale of that shift, and how directly it connects to the kind of pivot Hinkel envisions, remains to be seen, but the trend lines up with his broader argument that Georgia's crews and facilities don't need to sit idle just because the tentpole films have thinned out.
The Economic Argument for Staying the Course
Beyond the creative case, there's a financial one industry groups are eager to make. The Motion Picture Association reports that a movie filming on location adds more than $670,000 per day to the local economy, with big-budget productions averaging $1.3 million per filming day, according to the Motion Picture Association.
Whether those numbers hold up under an indie-first model is an open question. Georgia's existing incentive structure remains part of the industry's pitch. Georgia's film industry, as the state itself notes, has produced feature films, TV series, documentaries and animations dating back to 1972 — a long runway for a new chapter built around independent storytelling.
