The Georgia film industry is still trying to bounce back following the blow of the 2023 writers' strike that left production at a standstill for nearly five months.

For over 10 years, movies and shows have been shot here at Fayetteville's Trilith Studios, but with Georgia's film industry at a slowdown, they're expanding with live entertainment, movies, and more.

The complex has opened Trilith Live to keep money flowing despite the lull in production.

"I produce movies. So that actually means a lot of different things. So I get the creative together often of what story do we want to tell and how are we going to tell it," executive producer Tiffany Fitzhenry said. Her movie, "Signing Tony Raymond," premieres Friday.

"I'm really, really proud of it. This is a movie that was completely Georgia-made," she said.

Fitzhenry got to Georgia right before the film industry took off.

"We built a lot of stages. We have a ton of infrastructure. We have the best crews in the world. We have the biggest tax credit," she said.

But business has slowed down since the 2023 strike. The Georgia Film Office reports that from 2022 to 2024, production spending in the state dropped from over $4 billion to around $2.6 billion.

Film permits in Atlanta in the last year dropped roughly by half. That's made the industry have to get creative with its business.

"We are diversifying what entertainment is coming to the Trilith area, coming to the community here," Trilith Live Executive Director Matt McClain said.

The new Trilith Live space, featuring The Box, hosts concerts, comedy shows, family shows, theatrical performances, and community and nonprofit events.

There space has theaters.

"We've got a luxury cinema — nine total screens ranging from micro-cinema capacity of 20 all the way to large format like IMAX with 300 capacity," he said.

And even more space for filming.

"This venue has been put here to be an economic driver that is a community asset," McClain said.

It's a driver many in the industry say they need during a time of transition.

"We are really in a transitional phase, but what we're growing into is sustainable," Fitzhenry said.

Feb. 1 will be the first day Trilith has a production shooting, a live show, and the theater open.