As Hollywood continues to stay shut down, a lot of movie makers for the big studios are turning to Atlanta, and that could mean more movies in Augusta.
“Atlanta is not as oversaturated, but it’s reaching that point,” said Jennifer Bowen, the film liaison for Film Augusta, a division of the Augusta Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Many of the productions still in the state want a new look.”
A new look could mean a location such as Augusta.
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The booming filmmaking business in Atlanta means Bowen’s phone has been ringing a lot more this year.
“I’m very optimistic,” she said.
But at the same time, she said there’s nothing concrete to report yet. She’s also not going to count her proverbial chickens.
“I’m hesitant to form a prediction,” she said. “2020 showed us unusual things can happen.”
One local person who Bowen said knows the industry in Georgia and more specifically Augusta is Mark Crump.
“He really is the local guy who brings the local crews together,” she said.
Crump’s name has been on multiple projects. He’s served in a variety of capacities including location manager for “The Suicide Squad,” currently in post-production. Scenes were filmed in Augusta’s old jail on Fourth Street,
He’s also been a line producer on a film called “Awaken” shot in Augusta in 2020, “The Reason,” with Louis Gossett Jr. and Tatyana Ali that was also filmed in Augusta last year.
Crump is currently working on three projects. Two of them are in Atlanta. One is a sequel in a major movie franchise and is currently wrapping up. A third will include behind-the-scenes prep work in Augusta for a project that will be filmed elsewhere.
Crump works with art and technical crews. He’s had to hire some artists who’ve never worked on a film before for this particular project.
Not only does he work on other people’s films, but he’s had a few projects of his own.
One of those was a film called “The Swing of Things” which was released in July 2020.
He wasn’t as involved in the post-production of the film and wishes he had been.
“It was not as good as I wanted,” Crump said.
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He’s got a few other projects that are in development. Two of them are currently being cast. Crump said investors are looking for a big name when they back a film and getting a big name to commit to a project can take time.
As far as the possibility of films coming to Augusta, he said he knows there have been inquiries about shooting here, but there’s a high level of secrecy involved.
The bigger studios want to do their thing without the prying eyes of the public. People who are hired as extras or work on films are required to sign non-disclosure agreements and remain hush-hush.
They don’t need or want the publicity most of the time, he said.
Crump said the buzz in Augusta surrounding “The Mule,” (the 2018 Clint Eastwood film) spooked one big name filmmaker to pull out of its plans for the area.
“Large films are more tightlipped about it,” he said.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com
See the first in this series of stories about the film industry in Augusta here:
https://theaugustapress.com/augusta-film-industry-provides-resources-for-big-and-small-productions/
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