Brianna Black makes getting into the film industry look easy. With Georgia’s growing production scene, she’s been able to find local resources that have propelled her to movie sets big and small, and she is just getting started. 

Having grown up in Summerville, South Carolina, Black was looking to make a move, but felt Los Angeles wasn’t the right fit. “I’ve known about Atlanta and it being ‘Black Hollywood.’ I’ve heard it referenced in South Carolina. There was no film degree in South Carolina. I knew that Georgia would be my next destination. Because I grew up in the South, California would be way too overwhelming and expensive,” said Black.

In 2018, she enrolled in Savannah Technical College, where one of her professors introduced her to the Georgia Film Academy (GFA) courses offered at Georgia Southern University. When she found out more information about GFA’s entertainment arts certifications, she knew she had found her place.

GFA certification prepares Georgians wanting to work in television and film with course work and on-set experience for the industry. It’s a statewide initiative operated with support from the University System of Georgia to help build local talent for film and production crews.

 “I went to Georgia Southern in 2020. They didn’t have GFA yet, but around that time they announced GFA was coming, and I already knew what it was. That’s when I did my intro to onset production, and then I did the Avid editing class,” said Black.

She eventually earned a degree in multimedia film and production and completed GFA’s Film & Television Production certification in 2022. Through the GFA certification process, she gained hands-on production, on-set industry procedures, and professional film equipment experience. Black landed an internship as a costumer on the set of Sony Television’s “Panhandle,” season one, as the final course in her GFA certification pathway.

“Working on Panhandle was very interesting. I learned a lot from that experience. I learned how to connect and kind of work with different personalities, because when we get big shows like that here, we get a lot of people from all around. Most of the people I worked with in Panhandle were from LA,” said Black.

It was her first time working on a large production set and an important stepping stone to future opportunities. “A huge part of this business is connections. I started as an intern and ended as a production assistant. The costumer I worked with felt I proved myself, so she recommended me to be an additional background customer for ‘Fear of Walking Dead’,” said Black.

Shortly after, she secured a full-time position as a background costumer for “Fear the Walking Dead,” which was filmed in Savannah. Black then worked in wardrobe for Ava DuVernay’s upcoming drama “Origin,” and next as the first team set costumer for “Somewhere in Dreamland,” starring Whitney Peak, S. Epatha Merkerson, and Golda Rosheuvel.

“On ‘Somewhere in Dreamland,’ an incident happened, and I had to jump in as an additional script supervisor. From there, I took that position on other projects as well,” said Black.

More opportunities ensued. She’s now worked as a script supervisor for a Lifetime network feature film as well as taking part in local film productions, such as “The Eighth Round,” directed by Nikki Green.

Black acknowledges she didn’t do it all alone. Savannah Women in Film and Television (SWIFT), the Georgia Film Academy, and the Savannah Regional Film Commission have largely supported her journey.

“It set me apart because I understood how a set worked. I knew how to be a PA and work hard,” said Black. “There is a reason why people like GFA students. They like to hire them because they are hard workers and know what to do.”

Black’s ultimate dream: to one day direct a film of her own. She’s well on her way.  

This article appears in Connect Savannah | October, 2023.