Movie locations a bonanza for tourism in Georgia
Print Edition
WHEN Hollywood films a hit movie or TV show in Georgia, hardcore fans can bring in millions of tourism dollars when they come to get a firsthand look at the places they've seen on the screen.
Lee Thomas, the deputy commissioner in charge of the film division of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, said a boost in tourism is one of the greatest economic bonuses the state gets from providing scenery and backdrops to projects from “Deliverance” to “The Walking Dead.”
The biggest hits not only attract fans from overseas, Thomas said, but often route them to small-town locales that wouldn’t see many tourists otherwise. The state doesn’t track the impact in dollars, but some local communities have estimates. In Newton County, where “The Vampire Diaries” is filmed, direct spending by tourists shot from US$47 million in 2002 to US$107 million in 2012, according to the US Travel Association.
Here are some of the most popular Georgia movie locations fans can see up close.
“Walking Dead” Main Street — Beyond the apocalyptic ruins of Atlanta, survivors of the zombie-infested countryside in AMC’s TV series “The Walking Dead” find a refuge where a fragile society has walled itself off inside the small town of Woodbury. The town’s Main Street thoroughfare seen on TV is actually downtown Senoia, a city of 3,750 located 35 miles south of Atlanta. Undead fan-demonium has spawned a thriving tourism trade in Senoia, where officials say the number of storefronts has grown from six to 47 since the zombies arrived.
“Hunger Games” house — Set amid dystopian squalor and sci-fi opulence, the “Hunger Games” series wasn’t exactly geared toward depicting recognizable landmarks from present-day Atlanta, where the sequels “Catching Fire” and “Mockingjay — Part 1” were filmed. The Swan House is one big exception. The 1923 Atlanta mansion gets screen time in both movies as the home of President Snow, played by Donald Sutherland. Filmmakers shot scenes both inside and outside the Swan House, which is located on the 33-acre campus of the Atlanta History Center. The historic home's museum and grounds are open for tours daily.
“Vampire Diaries” diner — Hardcore fans of “The Vampire Diaries” TV series on The CW know that landmarks in the fictional town of Mystic Falls, Virginia, are actually filmed in the small city of Covington, Georgia. One of the supernatural series’ most recognizable locations has been the Mystic Grill, an office building transformed into the exterior of a restaurant for the show. Damage from a 2012 fire left the building vacant until a couple bought it and turned it into a real eatery named — you guessed it — the Mystic Grill. It opened in early 2014, a few months before the fictional Mystic Grill was blown to smithereens in an explosion at the end of the show’s fifth season.
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