SAVANNAH ― Perhaps no Hollywood starlet has felt the fallout from the U.S. film production slump more than this Georgia city-cum-silver screen icon.
From $200 million in film spending the year before the 2023 writers and actors strikes to less than $15 million in the two years since, Savannah has been largely abandoned as studios shift production overseas to save on costs.
As 2026 begins, though, the locale that once charmed filmmakers and audiences alike with its historic architecture, breathtaking landscapes and generous tax incentives is hopeful of a comeback. Savannah is wooing independent filmmakers and smaller-scale projects, and the early returns show promise.
The Savannah Regional Film Commission recently lowered the qualifying spending threshold for a local film incentive from at least $4 million to $1 million and is marketing the city’s well-established production infrastructure, led by its 350-person strong crew base.
“For us to stay attractive to the big guys, we have to sustain our film crew members and all that has been built here over the decades,” said Walker Dalton, the commission’s executive director. “Our crews need work for these in-between times, and independent films offer that.”
Credit: Staff
Credit: Staff
Savannah starred in blockbusters “Forrest Gump” and “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” in the 1990s and fueled a filmography that grew fast enough to roll like a movie’s end credits. Savannah has long been Georgia’s second-most-popular production location behind Atlanta, despite a dearth of soundstages and no direct flights from Los Angeles.
As recently as 2022, productions including the war epic “Devotion” and TV series “Fear the Walking Dead” spent more than $200 million shooting in the city’s historic downtown and nearby marshlands and beaches.
Then came the writers guild and actors union strikes that halted nearly all filmmaking. The new contracts led studio executives and other producers to shift production to Canada, the United Kingdom and Eastern Europe, where overhead is significantly cheaper, and the movie-making business has been slow to return.
In Savannah, filming resumed at a trickle. The production spend registered less than $7 million in 2024 and $8 million in 2025, a devastating trend for the camera, sound and technical pros who settled here when the city was on a celluloid roll.
“The major studios came to Savannah and created this environment, this bubble of filmmaking,” said April Aguilera, a Savannah-based filmmaker. “Since the strikes we’ve been hearing ‘in a few months’ it will come back or ‘the first of the year.’ But it’s just now starting to pick up.”
Credit: Paramount Pictures
Credit: Paramount Pictures
Aguilera recently worked on the first full-scale production to shoot in Savannah since the strikes, a psychological thriller titled “Paradise: Disturbed.” Filming wrapped in December after six weeks of shooting, mostly in Savannah’s historic district. The independent film stars veteran actor Holt McCallany, best known for playing an FBI agent in the Netflix series “Mindhunter,” and is projected to be released in theaters this fall.
Another independent film, a biography of the artist Judith Scott, is to be shot in Savannah later this year. Scott was born with Down syndrome and created fiber sculptures that are among the collections of the Smithsonian and the New York Museum of Modern Art. The movie is based on a book written by Scott’s fraternal twin sister, Joyce.
Credit: Savannah Regional Film Commission
Credit: Savannah Regional Film Commission
Landing those two independent films is a testament to the Savannah Regional Film Commission making the most of a dire situation, said Judd Wild, a Savannah-based stunt coordinator whose credits include award-winning work on “Mad Max: Fury Road.” His Dark Horse Stunts works closely with Savannah-based stunt professionals and recently wrapped “Paradise: Disturbed,” which included a stunt sequence involving a boat explosion on the Savannah River.
“Indies really hit a sweet spot for us here,” he said. “Savannah is an inexpensive place to film, and they bend over backward to accommodate filmmakers. You want to close off some streets? No problem. You want to blow up a boat? They’ll do that, too.”
Location scouting is on the uptick, too. One group that came through Savannah late last year recently began a two-week shoot in the city, and Wild said he’d received a commitment to work on a feature film later in 2026.
Credit: Savannah Economic Development Authority
Credit: Savannah Economic Development Authority
The film commission’s Dalton credits the expanded film incentive that took effect Jan. 1 and awards a 10% cash rebate to productions with a budget of at least $1 million that spend $500,000 or more in Savannah and Chatham County and that locate 50% of their shooting days within 60 miles of Savannah City Hall. Those that hire local crews qualify for an additional $10,000 bonus. Higher budget films of $4 million or more are eligible for $25,000 for using Savannah-based pros.
Those incentives are on top of the 30% tax credit package offered by the state for spending at least $500,000 on projects and including the Georgia peach logo in the production’s end credits. Producers can sell those credits to state taxpayers, usually Georgia-based corporations or high-wealth individuals, for an average of more than 90 cents on the dollar.
The expansion of the local incentive differentiates Savannah in the same way the state credits did when they were first introduced in 2005, Aguilera said. Other states followed Georgia’s lead in the two decades since and have created a competitive environment.
“But 40%? You just can’t beat that,” she said. “Independent films are all about the business side because of the tight budgets. Financing is coming from private equity and individual investors who want a return, and the incentive improves the potential for ROI (return on investment).”
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