Top Hollywood producers scout out locations in Georgia

A group of top Hollywood producers, who have worked on films like The Hangover, Transformers, Captain America and and Mission: Impossible, have visited Georgia to check out potential filming locations.

Their visit formed part of Georgian state-run programme “Produce in Georgia”, a new initiative aimed at bringing filmmakers to the country, offering incentives to local and international producers.

During the week-long trip the group visited a selection of the country’s most prominent and scenic locations, including the capital Tbilisi, the mountainous Kazbegi and Mestia areas, and the Black Sea resort town of Anaklia.

In addition, the Hollywood filmmakers met with their Georgian counterparts and production company representatives, partly in order to discuss their varying experiences and also to gain knowledge about Georgian cinema and the existing infrastructure. It is anticipated that upon their return to the US, the filmmakers will be equipped to recommend appropriate Georgian locations to other US film directors and producers.

“The world is only now starting to appreciate what Georgia has to offer, and bringing a delegation of top location scouts from Hollywood was a very smart move,” American filmmaker Thomas Burns said in a statement to Georgia Today.

A broad programme of filming incentives, entitled “Film in Georgia”, was presented in January this year. Under the initiative, producers will be able to shoot in Georgia and recoup 25% of the qualifying costs through a new cash rebate mechanism. This mechanism will be applicable across a range of areas, including feature film, film for television, television series, animation, documentary, reality television and music clips. Georgia served as a frequent stand-in backdrop for the west in Soviet cinema — could the “Film in Georgia” initiative bring the country back to its former big screen presence?

Source: Georgian Journal