ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – The SAG-AFTRA strike is officially over and studios in Georgia are ready to open their gates for casts and crews after months of quiet on set.
“It’s been painfully quiet. We’re used to being a hub of activity, we’ve missed the crew members we’ve built relationships with,” said Justin Campbell, the VP of studio operations for Assembly Atlanta.
Two new studios, Assembly Atlanta, owned by Atlanta News First’s parent company Gray Television, and Athena Movie Studios in Athens, are happy to open with the strike ending.
“We expect a flood of interest with the news finally broken,” said Campbell.
“That ending, I think, is a big weight off the entertainment industry’s shoulders, I know it is, and we’re ready to get going,” said Joel Harber, the CEO of Athena Movie Studios.
According to the Georgia Screen Entertainment Coalition, nearly 60,000 Georgians are employed by the TV and film industry each year. The industry itself had an $8.55 billion total economic output last year, impacting more than just people in the industry.
“Everybody from crew to hotels, caterers, florists, dry cleaners, all the industries that help support the film industry are ready to have that business back,” said Harber.
So, how soon could crews be back to work?
“The phones started ringing last night for us, so that’s a good thing,” said Harber.
“There’s been back panel discussions during the strike just to be in a ready position and we feel we are ready and prepared, and we look forward to it,” said Campbell.
Campbell says while folks won’t necessarily be filming by this weekend, in the next few weeks we could see productions starting back up with building sets.
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