In 2023, Georgia’s film and television production industry reached a record-breaking peak of $2.6 billion. This remarkable accomplishment cements the state’s position as a regional powerhouse for the entertainment industry. That landscape is rapidly changing. New studio spaces continue to go up all over the state, despite the fact that the movie business is in some ways starting to slow down a bit in recent years. Georgia serves as a crucial barometer for understanding the broader effects of former President Donald Trump’s tariffs on the U.S. economy.
Over the past ten years, studios have put billions of dollars into Georgia, turning it into a highly competitive hub for film production. Amid this success, fears are growing about the possible effects of proposed tariffs on films produced abroad. Georgia Entertainment CEO Randy Davidson says he’s alarmed by Trump’s proposed 100 percent tariff on movies. He is concerned that these types of measures would kill creativity and remove economic opportunity from the area.
Carson Demmond, a Georgia-based wine distributor, is seeing the damaging affects of Trump’s tariffs on European goods. He stated that the lack of clarity about these tariffs is resulting in big, unintended impacts in the shipping industry and beyond. He noted that companies are experiencing a bullwhip effect. We have a global supply chain and small changes in demand are wreaking havoc on supply chain management.
Georgia’s economy is robust, worth $900 billion, equivalent to the GDPs of Taiwan and Switzerland. The calculus of the local business climate is now facing some terrible headwinds. Dalton, a north Georgia mill town long known as the carpet and flooring capital of the world, is struggling. Now, businesses are rushing to purchase time as they navigate the unknowns and bad math introduced by tariffs. Carl Campbell, executive director of the Dalton Chamber of Commerce, remarked on the challenges local businesses face:
“It can create an opportunity for folks like me and companies like ours, yeah, but it can also crush business plans – if you’re reliant on foreign goods and suddenly you just took a 25% hit on your cost. It’s made some people sit on their hands and not move forward on some efforts that we were thinking would happen soon. It’s made some other folks, you know, escalate plans and have to do them faster.” – Carl Campbell
The challenges of the film and movie industry at large are underscored even more with the recent announcement over Marvel movies. For the first time in more than 10 years, Georgia won’t be home to any new Marvel productions. Encouragingly, it’s a larger trend, with China’s local movie industry coming to a slow halt as well. Every year, studios like Disney, Netflix and Marvel invest $2 billion to $4 billion annually – combined – to make movies in Georgia. This unprecedented spending underscores the state’s precarious position in the film industry.
Davidson expressed his mixed feelings about the intersection of politics and film production, stating:
“You know, on the one hand, you have people that have been struggling with their jobs here already, thinking initially that was going to be like a quick-fix answer to get production back here. … And then there was the other side: how is politicizing movies into the tariff discussion beneficial? Because it doesn’t make sense.” – Randy Davidson
As new pathways to completion emerge, so too are the dynamics of trade and production. Savannah’s port is receiving record-breaking cargo ships. These ships are coming from places including the Indian subcontinent, Vietnam, and Europe rather than China. We’ve heard that this is a clear signal of a change in global trade patterns that will be permanent and hurt local industries.
While the continued lack of certainty is problematic for everyone, it specifically causes a domino effect across several important sectors. Demmond succinctly noted:
“Tariffs are sometimes a tale of winners and losers. And so, yeah, we won a little bit on that… And of course, some of our companies got hurt, and they lost a little bit on that.” – Carl Campbell
As Georgia navigates this complex economic landscape, its two Democratic senators—Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock—have worked diligently to ensure that some benefits from the Inflation Reduction Act are directed toward Georgia. This new initiative is designed to support local businesses struggling under the weight of unpredictable trade policy and tariffs.
“There’s going to be a crazy ripple effect through multiple industries.” – Carson Demmond
As Georgia navigates this complex economic landscape, its two Democratic senators—Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock—have worked diligently to ensure that some benefits from the Inflation Reduction Act are directed toward Georgia. This effort aims to bolster local businesses facing challenges due to fluctuating trade policies and tariffs.