But since 2008 when the state began offering tax incentives for film and television productions, the industry is booming. Georgia is third behind Hollywood and New York, and fifth worldwide, in the number of productions. In 2014, 248 films and television shows were produced in Georgia and the industry generated $5.1 billion for the state economy.

Major motion pictures filmed in Atlanta in recent years include Marvel’s Ant Man; Captain America: Civil War; Anchorman 2; Selma; The Fast and the Furious franchise; The Hunger Games franchise (including filming at Atlanta History Center’s Swan House), and most Tyler Perry productions.

Television shows produced in Atlanta included the CW’s The Vampire Diaries; USA’s Satisfaction; FOX’s Sleepy Hollow; Lifetime’s Devious Maids; BET’s Being Mary Jane; BRAVO’s Real Housewives of Atlanta; and AMC’s The Walking Dead.

By 2018, The Walking Dead was the highest rated cable drama in history, reaching as many as seventeen million viewers each week. Fans of the show travel from all over the world to see where it is filmed, making The Walking Dead a boon to Georgia’s tourism industry as well.