“Atlanta itself and Georgia as a whole is just exploding production-wise.” Tyler Mitchell is talking about the metro area and state’s status in film and television production activity.
Georgia stands as the third largest production hub for TV and film in the country, behind only California and New York.
“The amount of investment, the amount of productions that are coming there, the amount of workforce that is increasing,” says Mitchell.
That is why the CEO of Impact.net says Atlanta was tapped as the launch market for what he oversees. “Our industry literally doesn’t have an online network. Very few people in our industry use LinkedIn, so we wanted to create a professional network specifically designed for the entertainment industry,” Mitchell tells WSB Radio.
It’s the ultimate gig economy. Any production begins with what he says is the “massive logistical exercise that involves hiring hundreds, sometimes thousands of people, renting thousands of pieces of gear and equipment.”
Time is certainly money. “Right now it takes about five hours on average to find and hire each crew member,” says Mitchell. “That means that people are spending a thousand to fifteen-hundred hours of their lives searching for available crew and checking references over the course of several weeks.”
He says with this new networking site, the hire process can be cut down significantly with this type of one-stop shopping.
“We’re really just trying to take everything that happens off-line - text messages and emails and Facebook groups and all these disparate ways - and just bring them all together in a more seamless way,” says Mitchell.
When the site launched in Atlanta last month, users went from 18,000 to now well over 21,000 and counting. Mitchell says 13 of the initial 60 productions with jobs filled were in Atlanta.
For crew members looking for that next gig: “If they’re in the industry and they have credits, they’re most likely already in our database, and they should go to Impact.net and request access to their profile. And it’s really all about updating their location, whether they’re available or not,” says Mitchell.
“(Film/TV productions) can search for people by role, by locations. So, if you’re looking for a grip in Atlanta, or you’re looking for a set decorator in London, you can find those people in those roles and locations. “You can check people’s availability through our platform and send a message...”
“For people hiring, it’s a great way to access a broader workforce that you might not have been exposed to yet,” Mitchell says.
The website is the brainchild of Hollywood producers Brian Grazer and Ron Howard.