How Jimmy Carter Set the Stage for Atlanta to Become the 'Hollywood of the South'

Mar. 15, 2025

Jimmy Carter.Photo:Dirck Halstead/ Getty Images

Dirck Halstead/ Getty Images

If you’ve sat through the end credits scene of aMarvelblockbuster, chances are you have seen an orange peach logo next to the words “filmed in Georgia.” And the Marvel Cinematic Universe is not alone — some of the biggestmovieandtelevisionproductions in the world are filmed in the Atlanta metro area.

So how did Georgia’s capital become the Hollywood of the South? It started withJimmy Carter, who would become the 39th U.S. president, and his vision of attracting a booming industry to generate wealth for his home state.

Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter and wife Rosalynn Carter pose with Elvis Presley in Atlanta in 1973.Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

In 1972, audiences had the twang of “Dueling Banjos” stuck in their heads from theBurt ReynoldsandJon Voightsurvival thrillerDeliverance.Filmed in Georgia, the movie put the state on the entertainment map.

Carter, who was Georgia’s governor at the time, realized the economic potential in keeping up the momentum, and would begin thinking of ways to convince filmmakers in Hollywood and New York to seek greener pastures out in the Peach State — so he established the Georgia Film, Music and Digital Entertainment Office.

Carter’s vision, he laterrecounted toVanity Fairjournalist Douglas Brinkley, was to create a “Hollywood of the South.”

The film office has since worked with several hundred major productions, and in 2022 itgenerated $4.4 billion for the state. Georgia productions for 2022 includedSpider-Man: No Way Homeand Netflix’sOzark.

Spider-Man: No Way Home.Sony Pictures/Marvel Entertainment/Courtesy Everett Collection

Governor Carter encouraged officials to cut down as much red tape as possible for film crews, beyond just offering tax credits. His film officelaunched a programthat connected filmmakers with local liaisons to help secure permits and accommodations, making the process smoother.

“We would do anything that was legal,” Carter told Brinkley. “Sometimes we would stretch the law to make it easy for them to make the films."

“For instance, when [producers] wanted to makeThe Longest Yard,we turned over the Regional State Prison,” he said, adding that the prison warden even offered to shack up in a local motel so that Reynolds could stay in his house while filming.

Burt Reynolds in “The Longest Yard”.Paramount/Getty

Tom Luse, executive producer ofThe Walking Dead,said some of the scenes they filmed would only be allowed in Georgia.

Speaking with theAtlanta Journal Constitution, Luse said one scene of the hit AMC series closed off 10 blocks downtown so they could fill it with hundreds of zombies and burned-out military vehicles. “It was the most incredible scene … Only in Atlanta could that happen.”

The legacy of Carter’s contribution to the film industry was even turned into a museum exhibit in 2019, featuring extensive memorabilia and arecreationof Netflix’sStranger Thingsliving room.

source: people.com