IATSE

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) provides skilled project workers to the film and television industry in Georgia, and given its certification, continuing education, and organizational work, has played a key role in the expansion of media work in the state since the creation of the production credit. The crews of Local 479 now work in state-of-the-art stages on big budget box office blockbusters like “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”

Local 479 has grown with the state of Georgia. It is now the largest Studio Mechanics local in the nation, with a jurisdiction spanning

The MBS Group is a studio management and production services support company formed in 2013. Over the past eight years, the company and its subsidiary, MBS Equipment Company, have grown from providing lighting and grip rental services to just three North America studio facilities to currently servicing over forty partner studios globally, including 300+ stages.

Georgia serves as MBS Equipment Company’s East Coast equipment hub and consistently competes with the UK as the MBS Group’s second largest market outside of Los Angeles. Since setting up operations in Georgia in 2014, MBS Equipment Company has grown from operating out of 20,000 square feet most of Georgia and Alabama. Crafts covered by Local 479 include: art department, construction, grips, lighting technicians, greens, props, set dressing, special effects, sound, and wardrobe. of space to now working out of 180,000 square feet between Atlanta and Savannah, servicing productions at over 70 Atlanta-area stages as well as supporting location work statewide.

In the past decade the membership of Local 479 has more than tripled, surpassing 6,000 people during the last half of 2021. More Georgians than ever before now work in the film and television industry.

At its start, in 2014, the core staff included five full time employees and two day players. Today, 73 full time employees and 15 day players work in Georgia, and the company expects to significantly grow, as more than sixty percent of its day players have converted to full time employees over the past 7 years, with five employees relocating from other markets to Georgia. MBS payroll has seen an increase of nearly 1,500% since 2014, and many team members have bought their first homes as part of the MBS family.

Music. The central role played by live performance in the music industry means it was especially hard hit by the pandemic (Pollstar estimated that in 2020 music venues nationally lost $9 billion in revenue, that out of a total ticket sale stream of just $12.2 billion18), but music is rebounding with all the other creative industries, facilitated by the state’s exceptionally rich history as the source of musical innovation and performance excellence. Through COVID, live music sector employment dropped 42%, compared to March of 2020. But Georgia’s music industry is an economic engine that supports approximately 70,000 jobs directly in live and recorded music, and the pandemic actually boosted streaming consumption. At the height of the shutdowns in 2020, Spotify gained 27% in subscribers, and Apple grew by 32%. And even at the worst, Morgan Stanley estimated that global consumer spending on streaming grew 18%, to $19 billion.19 Prior to the COVID-19 shutdown, 9,613 music establishments were operating statewide. Additionally, music intersects and contributes to a wide variety of sectors, including film and TV, e-gaming, and technology services, all of which rely on music to support their product development. Music is equitable, open to all Georgians and the music workforce is the most diverse of any entertainment sector. In a special report on Atlanta’s emergence as a force for hip-hop women, Atlanta Magazine noted that “Artists looking for a taste of 808s and ad-libs flocked to the city, but it would remain, for the most part, a boys club.” But “today, the genre is seeing a new wave of women rise to the top— and Atlanta is the epicenter. In the last two years, most of the women who have been included on the coveted XXL Freshman list have either been from Atlanta or have called it home at some point, including Latto, Flo Milli, Rubi Rose, and Lakeyah. Even artists who aren’t from the South, such as Nicki Minaj, Saweetie, and Cardi B, and making hits here.”20

Eleven years ago (in 2011), the Georgia Music Partners estimated that Georgia’s music industry created an annual economic impact of $3.7 billion, with music responsible for employing 19,955 people.21 Today, according to updated research from GMP, “Georgia’s musical legacy is an integral component of its past, present, and future. In 2021, Economists Inc. reported that recorded music contributed $2.5