Forming a Georgia LLC for a film or TV production

Why a separate LLC per project

A single-purpose LLC keeps one production's liabilities, guild agreements, location contracts and investor terms apart from the next project. It also gives the credit a clean owner: the credit belongs to the production company that incurred the spend and can be transferred or sold once earned.

Formation is a Georgia Articles of Organization filing; the LLC needs a Georgia registered agent and an EIN before payroll starts.

How the Georgia film credit works

• Base credit: 20% of qualified production and post-production expenditures in Georgia.
• Uplift: an extra 10% when the finished project includes the Georgia promotional logo and the state's marketing requirements are met.
• Threshold: at least $500,000 of qualified Georgia spend in a tax year, single or combined projects.
• Certification: the project is certified by the Georgia Department of Economic Development, and the Department of Revenue handles credit claims, audits and transfers.

Worked example: an indie feature in Atlanta and Savannah

On $2,000,000 of qualified Georgia spend, a 30% credit (base plus logo uplift) would be about $600,000, subject to certification and audit. Local occupation tax varies by city; Savannah and Atlanta each license separately.

Already have a California or Delaware production company?

You can register it in Georgia as a foreign LLC for $235 instead of forming a new entity, but many producers still form a Georgia LLC per project to ring-fence the shoot. We handle either.