Macon Film Commission, officials promise to work more closely together

As Georgia becomes the Hollywood of the South, officials with the Macon Film Commission and local government say it's time for Macon to play a bigger role in the movie-making industry.

Officials agreed Tuesday that improved dialogue between county leaders and the film commission would be helpful as they seek to attract more films and TV shows to Bibb County. In Georgia, the annual economic impact of the film industry is estimated at more than $6 billion.

"The pie is getting bigger, and we want a bigger slice," said Elliott Dunwody, one of three Macon film commissioners who attended the Macon-Bibb County Commission's Economic and Community Development Committee meeting.

Last year, scenes from the movie "The 5th Wave" were filmed in Macon.

County Commissioner Al Tillman said he was surprised to learn how little financial support the Macon Film Commission receives. He said meetings between county commissioners and the film commission need to become more frequent. In some cases the film commission may approach the mayor's office but not make any headway, he said.

"It's probably so many ideas and suggestions that the administration may not feel they have time for or are not interested in, but we as a commission may be interested in," he said.

County Commissioner Elaine Lucas said there needs to be more of an understanding of what film and TV can provide to Macon.

"We don't have enough of a grasp of what our potential is in this community," she said.

While Atlanta and Savannah remain the two primary locations for making movies in Georgia, there can be more effort to search all of Bibb County for potential site locations, Dunwody said.

"Are we attempting to include the whole community? Yes," he said. "We're at the mercy of the scout, location manager and ultimately the director of a film."

MANAGEMENT CHANGES FOR COLISEUM, AUDITORIUM?

A new management group will likely oversee two Macon facilities where a bevy of complaints about issues have come to the attention of officials.

A recent mandatory meeting for firms interested in managing the Macon Coliseum and City Auditorium was not attended by Interstate Hotels & Resorts, which currently manages the two facilities as well as the Wilson Convention Center.

County officials will have to decide if they want to accept any possible bids from the eight firms that attended the meetings. Commissioner Gary Bechtel said he received some complaints about the recent issues, including traffic jams in the Coliseum parking lot, when the Coliseum hosted the state high school basketball tournament earlier this March.

"I would hope we'd put an emphasis on track record and success on other similar sized markets," said Bechtel, chairman of the commission's Operations and Finance Committee.

Bids are due by mid-April, said County Manager Dale Walker.

The Grand Opera House that is currently being managed by Mercer University is also part of the bid process. The convention center is not included in this round of bidding since it's under a long-term lease with Interstate Hotels & Resorts, county officials have said.

PENSION PLAN ADJUSTMENT PASSES COMMITTEE

Employees under the Macon-Bibb County pension plan moved closer Tuesday to receiving a cost-of-living adjustment.

The increase passed through the commission's Committee of the Whole on Tuesday and would have to be approved at two consecutive regular County Commission meetings before becoming official. Tuesday's vote, however, came with some trepidation about the financial impact.

Mayor Robert Reichert asked commissioners to delay voting until officials could get more details about other options to provide more money to the plan's members. The 1.5 percent increase would lead to a $21 million bump in the county's liability to the plan, he said.

"Let's take time to be sure rather than try to pass this (now)," Reichert said.

Commissioner Bert Bivins said he supports the COLA since former employees under two other local government plans also have received it.

"I'd like to see us go ahead and make that adjustment and whatever we have to do to make it right, we have to do it," he said.

To contact writer Stanley Dunlap, call 744-4623 or find him on Twitter

This story was originally published March 22, 2016 at 5:22 PM with the headline "Macon Film Commission, officials promise to work more closely together ."