Want to make it in the commercial production business? You’ve got a few options on where to make a go of it. New York, LA or Atlanta.

We all know that New York and LA are crazy expensive to live in. Plus they have established labor markets and expensive fees for permits and locations. And then there’s Atlanta.

Atlanta is no secret anymore. But it still has the nation’s best tax credit and a less established crew base. This means we have talented technicians moving to Atlanta everyday. Most of them have gained years of experience working in LA, NY and formerly booming North Carolina and now plying their trade in the production hotbed that is Atlanta.

So what does this mean for brands and agencies? It means it may longer make financial or creative sense to shoot your spots in LA. It used to be that we did not have the same access to talent in Georgia. Now, we have the third-largest technicians union in a right-to-work state. We have actors choosing to live in Atlanta because of the number of roles available in film in TV projects shot in GA.

Every producer needs to at least consider shooting in Georiga. Sure, you LA has the best weather in winter and NY has some a lot of stage actors. But any brand that wants to see the highest possible return production dollars would be silly not to look at the numbers.