Originally posted Friday, February 7, 2020 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Note: Since last June, after all the boycott threats, I decided to do a monthly tracking of film and TV production in Georgia. But somehow, the past two months went by so quickly, I realized I forgot the entire month of January though I check the Georgia film office site regularly!
The production count in Georgia has remained in the low 30s since the beginning of 2020, hitting 34 as of today, according to the Georgia film office.
It appears most studios are full right now with a mixture of TV series, films and reality TV. Demand remains solid.
Reality shows account for 12 productions, 17 are defined as TV scripted shows and five are movies.
Even as the state legislature ponders “religious liberty” bills and tinkering with the tax credits. it’s business as usual on the ground and shows such as “Stranger Things” and “Walking Dead” aren’t even back yet. (“Stranger Things” is shooting in Europe right now but should be back in Atlanta soon.)
Shows that have wrapped production since December include:
- the Aretha Franklin film "Respect" starring Jennifer Hudson
-"Christmas Love Letter," some sort of Christmas film
- syndicated entertainment test show "Central Ave" (which will be back in the fall as a weekly show)
- "OJ25," a documentary shot for CourtTV airing now
- "The Tiger Rising" with Queen Latifah
- Netflix's "Thunder Force" starring Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer
- BET's "Boomerang" season 2
- the CW's "Black Lightning' season 3
- "Freaky Friday the 13th" starring Vince Vaughn
- "Ghost Draft" film starring Chris Pratt
- "Lovecraft Country," HBO drama horror series from Jordan Peele and J.J. Abrams
- "Meet the Flockas" reality TV on WE-TV
- "Sister Circle" TV talk show (this is probably a mistake; it's a talk show that shoots all year around)
- "The Slaton Sisters," reality TV show on TLC
- "Wild-n-Out" VH1 Nick Cannon's sturdy show
Shows that have started since then:
- "Die Hart" Quibi comedy with Kevin Hart and John Travolta (formerly called "Action Scene")
- "Dead Silent" ID season 4 from Atlanta-based Crazy Legs Productions
- "DMZ" ambitious HBO pilot starring Rosario Dawson and Benjamin Bratt
- "Genius: Aretha Franklin" NatGeo bio on Franklin starring Cynthia Erivo, not to be confused with "Respect"
- "Injustice with Nancy Grace" - season 2 of a true crime show on Oxygen
- "Love & Hip Hop Atlanta" - VH1 reality show in its ninth season
- "MacGyver," season 4, after taking a short break in December
- "Prank Encounters" season 2 on Netflix
- "Red Notice" big-budget action thriller starring Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot and Dwayne Johnson
- "Revenge Prank" MTV
- "Temple Fortunes" indie film, no details
- "The Titan Games" reality competition show hosted by Dwayne Johnson (season 1 was shot in Los Angeles)
- "Tyler Perry's Assisted Living" BET series starring the Manns
- "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" BET revival of series that aired on TBS from 2006 to 212
- 'Tyler Perry's Young Dylan" for Nickelodeon
- "Uncensored" season 3 for TV One
- "Willy's Wonderland" film starring Nicolas Cage
- "Your Worst Nightmare" ID season 6, also from Crazy Legs Productions
UPDATE on February 21 - the number jumped to 40 with several new projects:
- "A Savannah Haunting" indie film
- "Heels" Starz season 1, a wrestling drama starring Stephen Amell
- "Honey Trap" - VH1 reality show
- "Iyana: Fix My Life" OWN season 10
- "Run of the Hitman" Bruce Willis action film
- "Temple Fortunes" indie film
- "Three Months" movie
- "Vacation Friends" movie with John Cena, Lil Rel Howery
Films and shows that remained in production from early December include “Architect” (operating title for “Loki”), “Tag Team” and “Big Red” from Disney+, TLC’s “Life by the Ton,” Sly Stallone’s film “Samaritan,” Paramount’s “Wife Swap,” Amazon Prime’s “Underground Railroad,” NBC’s “Council of Dads” in Savannah, syndicated gossip show “Dish Nation,” DC Universe’s “Doom Patrol,” the CW’s ‘Dynasty,” Warner Brothers’ “Suicide Squad” (under the working title “El Dorado”), A&E’s “The First 48,” the CW’s Legacies” and Animal Planet’s “The Aquarium.”
Here is my tracking of active Georgia film and TV productions counts to date:
June 14, 2019: 37
July 2, 2019: 40
July 22, 2019: 46
September 5,2019: 42
October 9, 2019: 35
November 11, 2019: 36
December 5, 2019: 31
February 7, 2020: 34
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