Georgia legislators want filmmakers to do more than show a peach to earn state tax credits

ATLANTA (AP) — Top Georgia lawmakers say moviemakers should be required to do more than just show a peach at the end of the credits to get the top benefit from Georgia's lucrative film tax credit.

Thanks in large part to tax breaks, productions including “The Hunger Games,” the Marvel movies, the Fast & Furious installment “Furious 7” and many others shot in Georgia have made the Peach State a hub for movies and television shows that might otherwise have been shot in Hollywood in an earlier era. The program has supported thousands of Georgia jobs and the creation of several thriving studios.

In a news conference Wednesday, legislative leaders said they want companies to meet four of nine goals to receive the top 30% credit on Georgia income taxes. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Shaw Blackmon said that would include things such as shooting in rural Georgia, hiring more Georgia workers and supporting production studios in the state.

“We’re certainly not limiting the credit at all," Blackmon, a Bonaire Republican, told reporters after the news conference. "I think what we’re trying to do is provide more value and a better return on investment for the taxpayers and sustain the credits at the same time, so that industry has an opportunity to continue to thrive.”