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Patrick N. Millsaps

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Patrick N. Millsaps
Patrick N. Millsaps
Born (1973-03-16) March 16, 1973 (age 51)[1][2]
Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.
EducationSamford University (BA)
University of Georgia School of Law (JD)
OccupationProducer
Employer(s)Kane Studio, LLC
Political partyIndependent
Websitekanestudio.com

Patrick Neill Millsaps (born March 16, 1973) is an American attorney and film producer.

Early life and education

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Millsaps was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and grew up in Cobb County, Georgia where he attended McEachern High School.[3] He attended Samford University, initially to become a Southern Baptist preacher. He graduated in 1995 with a degree in psychology.[citation needed]

He enrolled in the University of Georgia School of Law in 1997.[4] Millsaps obtained his Juris Doctor in 2000.[3]

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After passing the Georgia bar in 2000, he worked for criminal defense attorneys Ed Garland and Don Samuel.[3] He continued his early legal career as a litigator and later practiced law with his mentor, Hylton B. Dupree, Jr.[3]

In 2001, six months after he received his bar license, Millsaps filed the first lawsuit on behalf of a charter school against a school district in the state of Georgia. Millsaps represented Stone Mountain Charter School in a lawsuit against the DeKalb County school board over funding which the school claimed it should have and did not receive.[5] The suit's premise was that the DeKalb school board was discriminating against the charter school and breaching the charter school contract by allotting less money per student than other schools in the district. The school board paid to settle the suit, though it denied any wrongdoing, citing the 1998 charter school law that did not provide guidelines for funding.[6]

Millsaps founded his own law firm in 2004, which merged in 2011 with Hall Booth Smith where he was partner.[3][7][8] Millsaps represented the Georgia Department of Community Health in 2008 as Special Counsel to Governor Sonny Perdue.[9] In 2010, Millsaps obtained a $1.5 million jury verdict for the family of a man that was killed by a drunk driver.[10]

Presidential campaign

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On December 26, 2011, Millsaps was contacted by Newt Gingrich's 2012 campaign for the Republican nomination for president to offer him a position as deputy general counsel—a volunteer position.[4] Millsaps joined the campaign, his first involvement working in a presidential race, the week before the Iowa caucuses.[11][4][12]

After a month working for the campaign, and orchestrating Gingrich's primary win in South Carolina, Gingrich promoted Millsaps to the position of chief of staff following the Florida primary and immediately made changes to reorganize the campaign's structure.[11][4][12]

Show business

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Patrick Millsaps in Road Trip

Millsaps began his career in show business as a talent manager.[13] He then transitioned to film production. His first film as executive producer occurred by happenstance.[13] A principal backer of the film, representing 20% of the budget, pulled out just 5 days before shooting was scheduled to begin.[13] The producers of the film sought Millsaps' assistance and Millsaps was able to secure the required financing in less than a day.[13] I'll see You In My Dreams starring Blythe Danner and Sam Elliott was completed on a $1 million budget, with a subsequent box office of more than $7 million. The film premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.[14]

In December 2015, Millsaps founded Londonderry Entertainment, a talent management and production company.[15] The company was subsequently restructured, with three subsidiaries, a film finance and production company, a television and digital media finance and production company, and a targeted film marketing company.[16] Londonderry ceased operations in 2018.

In 2019, Millsaps founded Kane Studio, a real estate development company, to design and build a new production studio in Georgia. The Kane project will be located in an Opportunity Zone. The facility is expected to be operational in the summer of 2022, and is projected to include a film and television production studio on a 1500 acre site, with more than 650,000 square feet of sound stages.[17] In 2009, Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue signed the first tax incentive bill to encourage film and television production in the state of Georgia.[18][19] At the time the legislation was enacted, Governor Perdue credited Millsaps for his contribution to the effort.[20]

In 2016, like many in the entertainment industry, Millsaps was a vocal critic of the Georgia General Assembly's so-called "Religious Liberty" bill, warning that passage would result in a Hollywood boycott negatively impacting the state economy.[21] Under pressure from a chorus of detractors, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal vetoed the controversial piece of legislation.[22]

Ariana Grande & Manchester Arena Bombing

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In the wake of the May 2017 bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, Millsaps penned on open letter to Grande that went viral globally.[23] After sharing the letter on Twitter,[24] it has been viewed millions of times and shared over 100,000 times and liked by pop stars Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj and Grande herself.[25] Millsaps' letter received worldwide media attention.[26][27][28] In 2018, Millsaps' letter was published in a book entitled "Letters to Change the World: From Pankhurst to Orwell" by Travis Elborough.[29]

References

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  1. ^ Hubbell, Martindale (December 2007). Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory: Florida, Georgia, Hawaii (Volume 4 - 2008). Martindale-Hubbell. ISBN 9781561607730.
  2. ^ United States Public Records, 1970-2009 (Georgia, 1991-2008)
  3. ^ a b c d e "Attorneys: Patrick N. Millsaps". Hall Booth Smith. Archived from the original on August 29, 2012. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d Moe, Alex (March 21, 2012). "Top Gingrich aide symbolizes unconventional approach". NBC. Archived from the original on March 22, 2012. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
  5. ^ "Charter school may close, leaders seek funds to sustain operation". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. May 17, 2001. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
  6. ^ "DeKalb settles suit with charter school". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. August 16, 2001. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
  7. ^ "HBSS Offices". Archived from the original on April 20, 2012. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
  8. ^ Simo, Christy (October 2011). "2011 40 Under 40: Georgia's Best & Brightest". Georgia Trend. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
  9. ^ Perdue, Sonny (January 28, 2008). "Executive Order" (PDF). State of Georgia. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 27, 2010. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
  10. ^ Cohilas, Karen (January 8, 2012). "Family wins wrongful death suit". WALB News. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
  11. ^ a b Cameron, Carl (February 3, 2012). "Gingrich Names New Chief of Staff". Fox News. Archived from the original on February 22, 2012. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
  12. ^ a b Rhem, Todd (January 3, 2012). "Patrick Millsaps named Gingrich campaign Deputy General Counsel". Peach Pundit. Archived from the original on August 26, 2012. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
  13. ^ a b c d Hendricks, Jim (April 17, 2015). "Patrick Millsaps brings Southern charm to Hollywood". Albany Herald. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  14. ^ "Sundance Blog". Sundance.
  15. ^ Busch, Anita (May 10, 2016). "Londonderry Comes Aboard To Finish Financing on "Wild Man"". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  16. ^ McNary, Dave (July 18, 2017). "Walden Media Co-Founder Chip Flaherty Joins Londonderry Films". Variety. Variety Media, LLC.
  17. ^ Katz, Brandon (June 23, 2020). "They were about to build earth's biggest studio when a pandemic hit". Observer.com. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
  18. ^ Longwell, Todd (September 26, 2013). "Vampire Diaries Hunger Games Fuel Peachy Georgia Production Scene". www.variety.com.
  19. ^ "Film Industry generates $6 billion for Georgia economy". Georgia Economic Development.
  20. ^ Yamato, Jen (June 17, 2014). "Ex-Gingrich Chief of Staff Launches Management Co. Following Stacey Dash Fox News Deal". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  21. ^ Galloway, Jim. "How Georgia's Film Industry Has Muddled GOP battle lines over '"religious liberty"". www.ajc.com. Archived from the original on June 4, 2016. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  22. ^ Bluestein, Greg. "Nathan Deal vetoes Georgia's "religious liberty" bill". www.ajc.com. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  23. ^ Romano, Nick. "Father pens 'redneck love' letter to Ariana Grande after Manchester attack". ew.com. Entertainment Weekly.
  24. ^ Millsaps, Patrick. "An open letter to @ArianaGrande #ManchesterBombing #ManchesterStrong #arianastaystrong #ArianaGrandeConcert #love #hope #peace #song". Retrieved June 3, 2017.
  25. ^ Graham, Chris (May 26, 2017). "Father's emotional open letter to Ariana Grande over Manchester terror attack goes viral". The Telegraph.
  26. ^ Thompson, Rachel (May 26, 2017). "Everyone has fallen in love with this dad's letter to Ariana Grande". Mashable.
  27. ^ La Rosa, Erin (May 27, 2017). "People Are Emotional Over This Dad's Open Letter To Ariana Grande After The Manchester Attack". BuzzFeed.
  28. ^ Estate, Lamia (May 25, 2017). "'When you're ready, sing again.' Advice to Ariana Grande". BBC News.
  29. ^ Elborough, Travi (2019). "Chapter 61". Letters To Change The World: From Pankhurst to Orwell. Ebury Press. ISBN 9781473560482.
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