Ryan Millsap Talks Money with City National's Star - Josh Harris, VP of Entertainment - PART 2

Ryan Millsap, Chairman & CEO of Atlanta-based Blackhall Studios, is one of today’s top entertainment executives! With a vision for Blackhall that’s ambitious, energizing, and boundless, Millsap is blazing a trail through the heart of the South – and setting his sights on the future of entertainment. Listen and learn as Ryan Millsap journeys through the myriad industries, people, and landscapes that traverse the complex and dynamic world of film production.

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Ryan: What do you see going on in the Georgia ecosystem in film today?

Josh: I think it's probably one of the most exciting times to be in entertainment in Georgia, specifically. As you know, we have surpassed many of our counterparts in Canada, and other, sub film markets in the world, as being the premier spot to do business – not only from the tax credit perspective, which we'll talk about in a moment, but really more so for the infrastructure. And you here at Blackhall, and what you've done here, is a huge part of that; the ecosystem of support.

And the third piece of that is workforce development. That's something we don't talk about enough. Right? It's just not happening at the scale in places like Vancouver, or Los Angeles, or even Manhattan, to an extent that it is happening here. There is a real push, and a real focus, on workforce development in Georgia – you see that with the Georgia Film Academy. You see that with SCAD. You see that with... There was another university, recently, that just announced they're now offering film degrees.

Ryan: UGA.

Josh: UGA. Right. So, all of these community support structures are being put in place to provide workforce development and talent for the future. That in itself – if you go out, and you talk to someone in LA on the entertainment side... and you know this. One of their biggest headaches and challenges is workforce development. It's finding the people and the space to do what they need to do. Many times, we have both. We have the people and we have the space.

So, when you have that, and it's a very collaborative structure, we are setting ourselves up in Georgia. And by the way, the tax credit – don't forget about that. But when you have those three things, Ryan, we are setting ourselves up for long-term sustainability in the entertainment ecosystem that you just will not find in Louisiana, or North Carolina, or other markets. I think, between Atlanta and the UK – and, to a lesser extent, maybe Vancouver – these are the three areas that the Los Angeles and the New Yorks of the world have to watch out for. And not because we are intentionally going after market share, or we're intentionally trying to pick off anything happening in L.A. or New York. It's not about that. What it's about is meeting a need.

And this era that we're in? Your question was, directly, “What do we think about entertainment in Georgia?” We're living in the era of content. Content is king. We used to say at the bank, “Cash is king.” It's very important. But content is king right now. We can't get enough of it. As a consumer, we want to download a million different programs. We want to have access to a million different programs. And we have all of these streaming services launching. Paramount just announced theirs. You've got all of these different streaming services. You’ve got to put content in those streaming services; otherwise, you're not going to get subscribers.

And then, don't forget about YouTube. Right? YouTube is another big distribution channel now. Millions and millions of people go to YouTube every day to download content and watch content. So, yeah; what that means for Georgia is that the demand is there. We just have to rise to the occasion to meet that need. We've been doing that in a very big way, as you know. And Blackhall has been fundamental in the development of Georgia, 100%. Blackhall, Trilith; all of these studios that have been laying the foundation for what we're doing here locally.

But now, we are in a place where we need expansion. And you know this very well at Blackhall. We need to build more. We need to build bigger. We need additional infrastructure to meet the demand that we see coming in the next 5 to 10 years. And that's why you see, in New Mexico, billions of dollars being spent on content development there, through some of the large streaming services. We don't want to miss out on that. We don't want to miss that opportunity.

So, there is the need I see. Again, back to your original question around entertainment in Georgia right now. It's never been better positioned for us to be successful in this industry long-term. We've never been better positioned to create sustainability, because of our workforce development efforts and our infrastructure efforts. But now we also must evolve, right? And we must continue to grow and meet the demands that our market places on us.

Ryan: The ecosystem is evolving rapidly, which is good to see. I think we're still lagging on the content side. Certainly, we're attracting more and more workforce – not just building it up internally, which is amazing. I think our internal development is world-class. But we're also recruiting top people from LA and London and New York who look at the lifestyle of making films in Georgia – which is, in many ways, the same lifestyle of those other cities, only with better infrastructure.

Josh: Right. Lower cost of living.

Ryan: And the money they make goes so much farther. When you move from New York or LA or London to Atlanta, everything feels free.

Josh: It does. And it's a real culture shock, in the sense that the people here are very accommodating; very nice, very friendly. You're not swimming in a pool of sharks, as you can – and you know this – in other markets. We are supportive of each other, and we will continue to be supportive of each other. And the reason for that is because, number one, we want this to be successful.

There's a drive there that doesn't necessarily exist in other submarkets. But Atlanta has always been a city who has risen from the ashes. It's part of our DNA. It's part of our history. It's part of who we are as a people. And so, that eagerness to win – and that eagerness to do more, and be more, and have more, which is very inherent in this city – resonates throughout the entertainment sector. And because of that sort of inevitable drive to succeed and be number one – which is part of being an Atlantan – we are seeing a lift in the space, and it's really fun to see.

It's really fun to watch this sector do so well because of the people here, Ryan. It's not because of something magical that we have that other places don't have. The magic is the people. The people want to help each other. They want to be successful. They work together. I hope, ten years from now, we're sitting here talking about this same thing, and how wonderful it is to do business in Georgia because of the people. And I think if we stay true to that message, we will beat out other markets day in and day out for these large projects, and we will set ourselves up – not to be a transaction city; not to be a host city.

I love the idea of hosting and accommodating, but I don't want this to be our reputation here in the South. It does not need to be a transactional destination. It needs to be, “This is where you set up shop. This is where you move your family. This is where you have a higher quality of life. This is where you come to do business.” And as long as we continue to foster that, we will set ourselves up for a long-term sustainability in the entertainment ecosystem.

Ryan: Did you say your daughter's ten?

Josh: She's ten. Yes.

Ryan: And she's acting?

Josh: Yes. You know, I fought her for so many years on the acting thing. She's always kind of been unique, in the sense that she likes to put on a show. Right? She's very much an extrovert; very much a people person. She likes to put on a show. And I fought her for a while about getting in this space – not because of anything negative in the space, but because I wanted her to be focused on school. She goes to a fine arts school here in Atlanta that's very focused on entertainment. They have their own film channel. I mean, it's a great setup. And that, again, is feeding the workforce development piece that I talked about.

Ryan: Which school is that?

Josh: The Lovett School.

Ryan: Oh, Lovett. I didn't realize Lovett had a big entertainment. Fantastic school.

Josh: Oh, yeah. There's a gentleman there named Jay Frere who has done amazing things for the Lovett School. And Mila – my daughter, Mila Harris – has really taken a liking to theater, and performing, and the performing arts. And, in the last two years, she said, “Daddy, daddy, I'm going to do this.” And I said, “Okay, fine. Let's just put it out there and see where it goes.”

Well, she's just taken off. She now is represented by an agent in Los Angeles and a manager in Los Angeles. She has a local agent here as well, with The People Store. Rebecca Schrager and Rick Esteman have built a phenomenal business here in Atlanta. The People Store is a true treasure for Atlanta in nurturing talent development. But Mila has done some phenomenal things. And she's like so many other Georgians – so many other children here, locally, have seen the little yellow signs around the city. I passed a few of them on my way into the studio today. And it's that intrigue. “Okay, well, what are they filming?” And like I said, our neighbor was a star of a reality show. She's literally grown up kind of on television.

And so, in the last two years, Ryan, she's started to put herself out there a little bit more. I'm happy to say... I won't say the name of the project, but she's just booked a huge studio film for 20th Century. It's a game-changer for her – the lead role in a studio film.

Ryan: That’s fantastic.

Josh: Yeah. We'll be filming that here over the next couple of months. And it'll be really a lot of fun to watch her grow in this space. But it's bigger than Mila. It's bigger than my daughter. It's bigger than just one child. It's the children. And the ecosystem here is very supportive of their natural interests in this space.

Ryan: Are you going to get to hang out a lot and watch her do that film?

Josh: Yes, I think so. It'll be me kind of working through the dynamics of working remotely – which, we've all been working remotely for a while now – and keeping my eye on the on the set. But luckily, my wife is a full-time mom. She's over a lot of the fine arts stuff. I love it. Particularly in the parent association. And she'll be on set with Mila full-time.

Ryan: Can you say where? Which studio is she going to film at?

Josh: It won't be here. Unfortunately, we have not been in competition for this particular project. It's going to be in New Zealand.

Ryan: Oh, wow.

Josh: So it'll involve a ten week trek to New Zealand for our family, which will be an adventure in itself.

Ryan: Now, will she continue school online?

Josh: Yeah.

Ryan: Amazing. Perfect timing.

Josh: Right. Many of the fine arts schools here in our city are so supportive of young talent. We've got lots of great young talent – young artists who are doing amazing things for Disney and other major studios now, here, based out of Atlanta. They've adapted to COVID and they've adapted to this need for a virtual learning environment.

So, as you know, SAG will have an on-set tutor, and they'll be there to help her disseminate through the information. But really, it's a virtual learning environment anyways, for the most part, right now. She does go in-person, but this will be a small part of her time where she'll go virtual.

Ryan: Will you have to quarantine in New Zealand?

Josh: We're still learning what this is going to look like. Like I said, we're in the contract-signing phase of this now, so I don't want to give away too many details. But in New Zealand, they are operating very much in a bubble, as you know. They've handled COVID beautifully. It's kind of the gold standard, if you will.

Ryan: Island nation.

Josh: Yeah. It makes it easier, right? When it's a small island nation of 5 million people. But their protocols are... first of all, there's no foreigners allowed into the country unless you have a visa – that is, for film or work. And then, when you get there, you have to stay in a hotel for two weeks, quarantined. They provide three meals a day, and snacks during the day. And you have to stay in your room for most of the time. They schedule 30-minute slots of outdoor time. So, it's going to be an intense two weeks to adjust to that.

Ryan: You’ll get to catch up on all the movies.

Josh: Yes. So, needless to say, that will be the most challenging part, I believe. And then, once we've gone through that quarantine period, of course we'll have great accommodations, and we’ll be on set. Yeah, it'll be fantastic. But like I said, it's a great opportunity. And really, it's a testimony to what's available here in Georgia for all of the youth out there.

Again, it's not a Mila Harris success story. This is a Georgia youth success story. You can be and do anything you want to be and do here in Georgia. And that, maybe, was not the case 15 years ago for a young actress or young actor wanting to get into the space, but they live in Atlanta or they live in South Georgia, or they live in Savannah. Now, we have such great attention and focus on this particular space, that you have people like Mila and others who are able to develop their true passion in life. This is what they want to do. They want to be in the arts. They want to portray these characters. They want to communicate their internal feelings externally, through these characters. And again, this is giving them a platform to do it that you really can't find in many other locations, besides Los Angeles, and maybe New York. So, it's really unique.

Ryan: Well, it's exciting. It's fun to see homegrown Atlanta talent out in major productions. I know everybody in Georgia will be excited to see more and more of that.

Josh: Yes, absolutely. And that's the thing. We're out there, constantly, on an everyday basis, promoting Georgia as a place to do business. Right? People like you; people like me. Other business leaders in this sector are always out there promoting Georgia as a place to do business, particularly in film and entertainment.

I think about the Atlanta Film Festival – which is coming up, by the way. Many people don't realize it's a top ten film festival in the world. USA Today has rated it one of the best film festivals in the world, and we have that local resource right here. I'm on the board of directors for the Atlanta Film Festival, and the Atlanta Film Society, and we are out there constantly talking about all of the different opportunities to learn and grow from something right here in Atlanta. Whether it be our promotional classes that we offer through the Atlanta Film Society, or whether it be the local, amazing resource that we have with Chris Escobar and the Plaza Theater – these are things that you won't find in other places.

Again, it sounds more like a commercial for Georgia. But I'm very focused on the long-term success of this business, and this industry, here in Atlanta. And I think we have to talk about it. Right? We have to talk. This does need to sound like a commercial, because...

Ryan: It’s not bragging if it’s true.

Josh: It's not bragging when it's completely accurate. And I just welcome people to get more involved in things like the Atlanta Film Society and the Atlanta Film Festival. And Invest Atlanta is another great option that many people don't realize. We talk about “How do you get stuff done?” Well, Invest Atlanta has a creative industries area, with a fund of money that you can apply for on a grant basis, essentially. It's a loan fund. But the likelihood of it all is that you apply for it as a grant. And I'm on the board for that as well. We're issuing out those funds all of the time to new and developing filmmakers.

And then, the music industry. That’s something we haven't really touched on yet. The entertainment sector is more than just film and TV. That's two areas that are close to our hearts, Ryan. But there's also the amazing music industry here in Atlanta – which is a phenomenal place to do business for the music industry. And sports, and other media, and live events. These are all part of the entertainment ecosystem, and we offer all of those things here in Georgia.

Ryan: Josh, this has been fantastic. Thank you for taking the time. If people want to find you on social media, is there a way to do that?

Josh: There is. LinkedIn is probably the best way. I guess I’m old-school, Ryan. I don't have Instagram. I don't do Facebook.

Ryan: Is LinkedIn old-school?

Josh: I guess so. I only do LinkedIn for professional reasons. So, yeah, you can find me on LinkedIn at Josh Harris. And you can also feel free to check out City National Bank’s website. Like I said, we are very focused on providing services to the local community and being a resource to the local community here, outside of film and inside of film. So, you can find us online at CityNationalBank.com.

Ryan: Thanks for joining us today. It’s been fantastic.

Josh: Thank you so much.

Ryan: This is Ryan Millsap, and this has been the Blackhall Studios Podcast.

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