Camera Ready City

Erin Rodgers, Economic Development Specialist
Office: (404) 270-7059
Cell: (404) 323-3071
For faster service, email: erodgers@eastpointcity.org

East Point is proud to be one of Fulton County’s “Camera Ready” communities. “Camera Ready” is a special designation given by the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Film, Music and Digital Entertainment Office (FMDE). The program assists counties across Georgia in attracting film and TV production.

Georgia’s movie business is booming. Many movies and TV series have been filmed in Georgia through the years, like “Fried Green Tomatoes”, “Driving Miss Daisy” and “In the Heat of the Night”, but you may wonder why the sudden increased interest now? Well it is primarily due to the 2008 enactment of a 30% tax credit on a minimum of $500,000 spent on film production in Georgia. Since then, Georgia has seen an influx of movies, including the Blind Side, the remake of Footloose, the Odd Life of Timothy Green, the Change-Up and many more. Scenes from the Devil’s Knot, Prisoners, The Walking Dead, Constantine and Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family were filmed right here in East Point, as were scenes for MTV’s Teen Wolf and the popular Vampire Diaries series to name a couple. The City is well-positioned for future projects due to plans by film mogul, Tyler Perry, to redevelop 330 acres of the old Fort McPherson U.S. Army base, and build a massive, 16 sound stage studio lot.

So why is this so important? Georgia receives billions of dollars in economic benefit from the film industry ($9.5 billion in recent years). When film companies come to a location to shoot, they buy materials for backdrops/sets, they eat out and stay in area hotels, hire locals for various services, all the while hopefully scouting for the next film site. In addition, they typically pay the property owner for the time/use of their property. East Point is in the process of compiling photos of potentially available properties for the state website (where the movie companies do some of their site selection research). For more information about the “Camera Ready” program in Georgia, please visit www.georgia.org/cameraready.

Business Offering Film Services, Lodging or Crew Services
If you are a business offering specific services to the film industry, including lodging, or if you are a film crew professional available for hire, please register on the State Film Office “Reel Crew” Production Directory.

OUR FILMOGRAPHY

Black Panther
Atlanta-Season 2, 3 & 4
Aretha Franklin “Respect”
Step Up 3
Walking Dead
Stranger Things
Best of Enemies
Brooklyn
Manifesto

All filming related activities affecting or involving the use of the Public Right of Way (roadside, sidewalks, camera on curb, etc.), City Buildings, City Land or any form of Road Closure or Intermittent Traffic Control (ITC) must be coordinated through the Camera Ready Contact and the Department of Planning & Community Development, and submitted ideally 15 Calendar Days in advance of filming (for a “regular” permit). Accommodations can be made for fast paced filming schedules, but there is a minimum submission deadline of 8 Calendar Days in advance of filming. Quick Facts/Information

These fees are payable to “City of East Point” and submitted to the Camera Ready Contact. These fees are in addition to the Permit Application fees which are submitted to Permitting. For an invoice for the fees involved in your particular filming, depending on scope, please email the Camera Ready Contact at erodgers@eastpointcity.org.

  • Filming a City Building: (Vacant): $4500/day* or (Occupied): $7500/day

    Prep/Strike/Hold Day at City Building: $1000/day (vacant) or $2500 (Occupied)**

    City’s Site Representatives: City’s Site Representatives: Use of City Building’s and Parks requires a City determined “Site Representative” at the property for access/oversight (varies by building/property). This City Site Representative shall be paid for by the film company.

    Deposit for Filming: $1500/day (vacant) or $2500 (Occupied)**

    City’s Charge Per Person for a Tour Group’s Admission Ticket for Film/Tourism Tours in/on a City Property or Buildings : $5/Per Person/Per Ticket

    Park, Parking Lot, Sidewalk or Street as a Filming Location: $2000/day

    Designated Parking Lot (For Crew Parking/Base Camp): $300/day (Excluding Customer Care lots and City Hall lots which, if approved for use, are $600/day).

    Public Parking Spaces in the Downtown District: Public Parking Spaces in the Downtown District: If use is approved, $50 per marked space, per day, or if unmarked, $2.50/linear foot of parallel parking lane length, per day.

    Streets Used for Trailer/Equipment Location Needs, use for ITC (Intermittent Traffic Control), Partial or Full Road Closure:

                              Use of up to 300 linear feet: $150/Per Day, Per Lane

                              Use of up to 600 linear feet: $300/Per Day, Per Lane

                              Use of up to 900 linear feet: $450/Per Day, Per Lane

                            Increments over 900 linear feet: $1/Per Linear Foot/Per Lane/Per Day

    *Any usage of public street travel or parking lanes after 5 days, if approved, will be calculated at $1/linear foot/lane/day, regardless of the length

    *Depending on the scope/length of rental beyond 1 month, amounts may be adjusted to reflect a discount

    **Depending on the scope of the filming, the amounts above are subject to change by the City Manager.

    ***Film fees are per “day” and are calculated as actual calendar days, not 24 hour periods of time. So, for example, filming activity that starts at 7pm one day and carries over past midnight into the early morning hours the next day will be considered two days of filming fees. 

We are excited you have chosen to film in the City of East Point! We are ready to help you with many of your film location needs and we can assist with as little or as much as you would like. We offer assistance with:

  • Location Scouting within the City (including our own buildings)
  • Film Shoot Coordination
  • Crew Parking Locations
  • Potential Base Camp Sites (some offering utilities as well)
  • Food Service Facilities for your Caterer
  • Road Closure or Intermittent Traffic Control (ITC)
    . . . And much more!

Regular Permit Review Period (15 calendar days from submission date) – $345*
(Breakdown: $300 (permit fee) + $45 (Admin Fee) = $345) / *plus online credit card transaction processing fee.
Expedited Permit Review Period (8 calendar days from submission date) – $645*
(Breakdown: $600 (permit fee) + $45 (Admin Fee) = $645 / *plus online credit card transaction processing fee.

Online Permit Submissions

Step 1Create a CONTRACTOR ACCOUNT (not a “Homeowner” Account) in the Online System (if you already created an account previously, skip to Step 2 below)

  • Set up a Username and Password
  • Activate the Account via the Activation Email that is sent to Your Email Address
  • Then send an email to request a PIN from permitting at permits@eastpointcity.org (include your name you used to register and user name in the email).
    If you have issues, call (404) 270-7018.

Step 2: Fill out the Film Permit Application (so that you have it ready for upload in the online system)

Please be sure to include the application fully completed, as well as, a copy of the TCP plan, a legible Google map showing the filming location and proximity of any parking/base camp locations you are using, a copy of your Notice of Filming you will be distributing to neighbors and a copy of your insurance listing the “City of East Point, 2777 East Point Street, East Point, GA 30344” as additional insured. As a separate document, have a copy of your Photo ID (PDF or JPEG) ready for upload in the online system separately as well.

Only one address is allowed per permit application- if you have multiple locations, then submit a separate app for each one.

Step 3Apply for a CONTRACTOR PERMIT (not as a “Homeowner”) in the Online System

*If time allows, email this application package to erodgers@eastpointcity.org so that it can be reviewed prior to submission for any potential missing information.

Please feel free to send an email to erodgers@eastpointcity.org to get an email with a more detailed step-by-step instruction document for submitting your permit online.

All filming related activities affecting or involving the use of the Public Right of Way (impacts to the roads, sidewalks, street parking, City parking lot, camera on curb, etc.), City Buildings, City Land, City Parks, or any form of Public Safety Impacts: Road Closures, Intermittent Traffic Control (ITC), use of Simulated Weapons, Fire, Pyrotechnics, Loud Noise(s) or Bright Light(s) Impacting Neighbors, Overnight Filming, Smoke or other potential “emergency” triggering simulation, must go thru the permitting process and coordination with the Camera Ready Contact.

If your filming project does not require a permit per the guidelines above, and outlined in our ordinance, we still require you to email the Camera Ready Contact (erodgers@eastpointcity.org) the following information: date of the filming project, production company, project name, primary contact, number of crew, base camp/crew parking/catering locations and filming days/times. This will help us keep the City’s filmography up to date and allow us to properly address any potential public safety issues/concerns that may arise during your time here.

Additionally, we ask that you circulate a notification letter to the surrounding community/businesses/property owners within 500’ of the production, notify the affected neighborhood association and notify all representatives of East Point City Council of the filming as well by sending a copy of the notification letter via email to: CouncilMembers@eastpointcity.org. Here is the Neighborhood Associations Map so you can determine which are in close proximity to your filming and a contact list.