SCAD uses actual ‘Scream 7′ set as teaching opportunity
Nearly three decades after “Scream 2′ shot in metro Atlanta, the indefatigable slasher franchise’s seventh installment came back to town last year, hitting spots all over metro Atlanta.
Savannah College of Art and Design, which has campuses in Savannah and Atlanta, was able to entice “Scream 7” director and cowriter Kevin Williamson to film a key scene at SCAD Film Studios in Midtown.
In January 2025, two of the original “Scream” actors faced off on a talk-show set at SCAD: Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers, still the prying, preening journalist grilling Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott-Evans, the traumatized mother of three whose oldest daughter, Tatum (Isabel May), is now a Ghostface target.
The tense reunion between Gale and Sidney is the first time the two actresses have been on screen together since “Scream 4″ in 2011. The pairing helped fuel box office interest in the movie, which finished No. 1 opening weekend with $63.6 million, the biggest in franchise history.
“Scream 7″ defied subpar reviews from critics, but a middling CinemaScore of B-minus from opening weekend audiences may foreshadow a major drop off this weekend.
Karl Rouse, associate dean of the SCAD School of Film and Acting, said “Scream 7″ production designer John Collins had previously taught a master class at SCAD and really liked the space, recommending it to both the film’s location scout and Williamson.
“They liked the retro feel of the building,” said Rouse, noting the producers also shot in the lobby and the exterior of the building.
From the early 1970s until 2008, the building was home to NBC affiliate WXIA-TV (11Alive) next door to the much larger WSB-TV campus. NBC also used it as a base to cover the 1996 Summer Olympics. SCAD has owned the space since 2008, and 11Alive moved 2 miles away.
“Scream 7″ producers, Rouse said, allowed students to watch them work and “get to see this amazing world they all want to get into.”
Several students were even employed by “Scream 7,” he noted. (One, Jaden Lanfrank, has since graduated and now works on TBS’ “Impractical Jokers” as a producer.)
“Scream 7″ producers allowed SCAD to keep the set after filming was over. For the past year, it’s been used as a classroom. The college offers majors in sound design, art direction for film and TV, acting and casting.
“We use this as a hero set,” Rouse said. “Students can come in here and redress it. They could turn it into a bookstore or a coffee shop.”
‘Scream 7″ also shot in Dallas, Smyrna and Marietta, as well as the city of Atlanta. Many locations, especially in Dallas, fronted as the fictional small town of Pine Grove, Indiana, where Prescott lived. Interior scenes were shot at Great Point Studios in Douglasville, which opened in 2024 but has been underused compared to most other studios in town, despite the fact Lionsgate is an anchor tenant.
A few locations “Scream 7″ filmed at
- Varners Restaurant & Tavern, 725 Concord Road SE, Smyrna: Chloe’s family restaurant
- Hopp Frogg Music, 318 Main St., Dallas: music store
- Brawner Hall, 3180 Atlanta Road, SE, Smyrna: Fallbrook Psych Hospital
- SCAD TV Studios, 1611 West Peachtree St., Atlanta: fictional TV station
- Jennie T. Anderson Theatre, 548 South Marietta Parkway SE, Marietta: fictional theater
- A building at 109 W Spring St., Dallas: a chase scene in Pine Grove
- Bullock’s, 33 Courthouse Square, Dallas: Little Latte coffeehouse in Pine Grove
- Dallas Civic Center, 121 E. Griffin St., Dallas: Pine Grove sheriff station
About the Author
Rodney Ho writes about entertainment for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution including TV, radio, film, comedy and all things in between. A native New Yorker, he has covered education at The Virginian-Pilot, small business for The Wall Street Journal and a host of beats at the AJC over 20-plus years. He loves tennis, pop culture & seeing live events.
