Atlanta based Executive Producer Lavon Lacey has initiated a grass roots campaign to encourage advertising agencies and Georgia based corporations to "Think Georgia First" when they produce commercials. With production companies numbering close to 300 and directors represented by Georgia based production companies approaching 500, Georgia is a prime location to shoot commercials. However, in the past year, virtually every Georgia utility sent their production dollars out of state and in some cases out of the country. This was also the case for most of the stores you shop in and most of the services you use. One would be hard pressed to find any Georgia based corporation producing their commercials with Georgia based production companies. Asked why he is undertaking a task many have failed at in the past, Lacey said "I have spent countless hours being ignored by Georgia advertising agencies and seeing Georgians money sent to L.A. , New York, Canada and everywhere but here. I am tired of seeing California actors being passed off as Georgians while real Georgians (actors) are waiting tables to survive. I'm frustrated at seeing great Georgia production companies laying off workers and giving up their office space because the advertising community would rather spend their clients' money in L.A. and Canada. And I am especially frustrated at the creative community saying we don't have an actor base here in Atlanta. We have access to over 2000 actors in the area. If for some reason we can't find the right person, we can always bring them in. But at least we are keeping the productions here." Governments in many states, including Florida, legislate that if state tax money is involved then the productions must be awarded to in state companies. This is the case for The Georgia Lottery Corporation. It would seem like common sense that government agencies in Georgia would keep their production dollars here, but it is apparently not happening. For example, a Georgia transportation authority recently hired a California advertising agency, that hired a California production company, to come to Georgia to shoot a series of commercials. The senior producer for one of Atlanta's top advertising agencies was quoted as saying " I can't get the creative staff to even look at Atlanta, they want to go to Hollywood." With our state facing deficits, our citizens facing job cuts, and our economy hurting, everyone in Georgia should encourage Georgia based companies and utilities, as well as other companies with a creative or media presence in Georgia to "Think Georgia First."