Film and television are back in action in Georgia, where the state film commission says 14 projects are in the pipeline or in production. Those are the ones you can name. The deadline has identified others, and most initial preparation has increased sharply this week, a sign of progress for the industry and downtown Hollywood that like other hotspots has seen an increase in COVID cases. -19 recently.
A spokesperson for Pinewood Studios Atlanta, which has 18 sound stages, said “advanced equipment is back.”
Blackhall Studios, with nine sound stages, has prepared “bodies on the ground” since Monday for two film productions from 20th Century Studios and Universal, CEO Ryan Millsap said. More key personnel are expected to land in the next two weeks. “It will be an increase,” he said.
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Activity at Lionsgate’s Increase, who filmed her first two YouTube seasons on Blackhall, stopped after the tragic drowning death of star Naya Rivera. The show will return for a new season reinvented in Starz, which was in the process of being written when Rivera went missing last week.
Millsap declined to name the other Blackhall productions. The 20th century movie was already underway before sets across the county were abandoned in March due to COVID-19. The Universal project is new.
New productions may require two to three months of preparation before the main photography, he said.
The Georgia state film site listed other projects, including Warner Bros. Black adam, starring Dwayne Johnson; Bravo’s Season 13 The Real Housewives of Atlanta; the sixth season of Lifetime’s Little Women: Atlanta; And as previously reported here, Season Two of Two Tyler Perry BET is shown on Sistas that started filming last night, and The oval.
Independent Movies Safe at home and Double kidnapped now they are also filming in the Peach state.
Warner Bros’ Black adam It is said to have been cleared for production, but will not begin until next year.
Also on the list are independent films The Heritage reality shows including TLC’s 1000 LB Sisters, Fox Dish nationBravo’s Married to medicine, UMC’s Terror Lake Drive, The trip that escaped, Season, along with the TV movie One Don’t waste your beauty.
“We are very grateful for the commitment recently made by industry leaders to return to producing more movies in Georgia, and it is gratifying to see our productions begin to take off safely. We will continue to work with the studios to answer their questions and help them make plans, ”said Georgia Film Office Director Lee Thomas.
Georgia was a state that opened its doors early, starting to loosen restrictions in April, but the CEO of Blackhall said the studio remained a ghost town as unions and producers worked through health and safety protocols.
On June 12, Governor Brian Kemp said that major film, television and broadcasting companies planned to bring back and hire some 40,000 production workers for some 75 production projects that will invest $ 2 billion in Georgia’s economy during next year and a half.
However, the state has seen a peak in COVID recently with reported cases exceeding 100,000 this week. Kemp has recommended but does not require masks. Last week, the Republican governor basically overturned Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ attempt to reverse plans to reopen the city to Phase One.
Pinewood is in Fayetteville, GA, outside of Atlanta. Blackhall has an Atlanta mailing address, but is technically in unincorporated Dekalb County.
This week, separately, a federal court judge permanently rejected a Georgia state abortion bill, removing a cloud as some in the entertainment industry had expressed doubts last year about continuing to film there if was ever enacted. Kemp enacted the bill last spring, reproductive rights groups sued, and Judge Steve Jones of the Northern District of Georgia issued a suspension last fall that it would not take effect in January.
Both parties filed motions for summary judgment at a June hearing. Jones’ final ruling, which called the so-called “heartbeat bill” unconstitutional, came Tuesday.
