18 minute read
On Location
ilm is big business in Georgia. According to a July report from the Georgia Department of Economic Development, a record $4 billion was spent on productions in the Peach State during fiscal year 2021. Some of that happens right here in the Golden Isles.
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Interested bystanders watched as crews filmed a woman “riding” a bicycle (actually pulled by a dolly) through the quaint seaside town of “Belle Isle.” Of course, this picturesque pier shopping area is better known to locals as the Village, and it actually exists on St. Simons Island. It was transformed for the Netflix TV drama, Pieces of Her. The series is an adaptation of the 2018 thriller by the same name penned by bestselling crime author Karin Slaughter. Emmy and Golden Globe award winning actress Toni Collette headlines the cast. Bella Heathcote is our young woman on the bike. And such transformations are nothing new in the Golden Isles.
In 2012, in this same village, the Casino Building that houses our theater and island library branch became the fictitious Hamptons Heritage Hospital set in the very un-Southern Hamptons of Long Island, N.Y. for the USA Network series Royal Pains. Everyone living here since 2015 knows that Downtown Brunswick stood in for Ybor City in the days of Prohibition when Ben Affleck was in town filming Live By Night. But you may not have noticed that the sandy dunes in Chris Pratt’s Miami Beach of the future in The Tomorrow War were shot on the beach of Jekyll Island.
Not only can Coastal Georgia transport us to distant places and foreign shores, it also offers locations that are timeless. Our unique scenery can convince viewers they’re seeing desolate post-apocalyptic landscapes or quaint small towns from eras past. Georgia has become a hub for film and television production. It boasts enticing tax incentives established more than a decade ago, a highly skilled workforce within the industry, and an infrastructure that supports bigbudget productions. Atlanta is firmly located in the center of the Marvel Universe. The record $4 billion revenue from direct spending on in-state productions during the 2021 fiscal year that was reported by the Georgia Department of Economic Development, is a substantial jump from the $2.9 spent in 2019. Some of this increase can be attributed to higher film budgets to accommodate strict safety measures, including the need for additional crew and space. Additionally, Lee Thomas, director of the Georgia Film Office explains, “Georgia allowed productions to return before other markets, so we not only had returning shows that shut down due to the pandemic, but we were also able to attract new shows that were slated to shoot in other, locked down markets.” During this incredibly lucrative
year, 366 productions filmed in Georgia, including 21 feature films, 45 independent films, and 222 television and episodic productions, with the balance rounded out by commercials and music videos. No wonder the state has earned the moniker “Y’allywood!”
When people think of movies set or shot in Georgia, they tend to think of quintessentially Southern films like 1989 Academy award winner Driving Miss Daisy with Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman set around Atlanta or another feel-good favorite featuring Tandy, 1991’s Fried Green Tomatoes which also starred Kathy Bates and Mary Stuart Masterson and put the town of Senoia and its Whistle Stop Café on the map long before the zombies of The Walking Dead arrived. While Trilith Studios (formerly known as Pinewood Atlanta Studios) in Fayetteville has been the heavy hitter for big budget pictures in Georgia since 2014, there is no shortage of movies and television projects being filmed on the Georgia Coast. We can even claim our own Jessica Tandy movie, as scenes from 1994’s Camilla, the last movie the Oscar winning actress made with her husband Hume Cronyn, were filmed here at the Jekyll Island Club Resort.
Before we get to the Golden Isles, however, we can’t give short shrift to some of the important films that took place up the coast from us. Arguably, Savannah is the home of a couple of pop culture’s most iconic movie props, a park bench in Chippewa Square and Bonaventure Cemetery’s Bird Girl statue. Most of Tom Hanks’ Academy Award winning turn as the title character in 1991’s Forrest Gump, was filmed in and around Beauford, South Carolina, but his memorable seat on the bench with his box of chocolates took place in the picturesque setting of downtown Savannah. The actual bench used in the movie is now at the Savannah History Museum.
Similarly, the Bird Girl statue that appeared on the cover of John Berendt’s bestseller Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and in the 1997 movie had to be moved from its original location in Bonaventure Cemetery to the Telfair Academy for protection because of the attention it garnered after the incredible popularity of the book and movie. And while Clint Eastwood’s movie based on Jim Williams’ sensational murder case and trials may have been set and filmed in Savannah, its connections to the Golden Isles are strong. St. Simons Island resident Bess Thompson makes an appearance as the pretty woman who stops to pet Uga in Forsyth Park. The fact that she’s an extra isn’t what makes this notable, it’s the fact that she’s the daughter of Sonny Seiler, the attorney who represented Jim Williams in real life and the owner of our beloved line of UGA mascots. Sonny played a judge in the movie. Other locals connected to the story are local attorney Austin Catts and the late Nancy Hillis, the accomplished singer, named Mandy Nichols in the film, who ran Sweet Georgia Brown’s with Joe Odom and later resided on St. Simons Island.
Some of the more recent movies that have been filmed up the coast worth mentioning are 2019’s sleeper hit Peanut Butter Falcon starring Shia LaBeouf, Zack Gottsagen, and Dakota Johnson. Widely praised by critics, it grossed over $23 million, making it the highest grossing independent film of the year. Will Smith went viral on social media in his battle with Coastal Georgia gnats while shooting on the water for Gemini Man just north of here. Joe Mangianello’s antics with Channing Tatum in the Darien Friendly Express might be one of the best moments of Magic Mike XXL. And since the male stripper movie sequel made over $122 million at the box office with a budget of approximately $14 million, you could say he shook his money maker, literally.
Brunswick
The 1999 film called Forces of Nature may not have been a big box office success, but there’s a good chance it had a significant impact on our region. The rom-com starred Academy Award winners Ben Affleck and Sandra Bullock and had scenes filmed in Savannah. It was widely published that Ben fell in love with Georgia while filming the movie, which led to his purchase of a hideaway on Hampton Island Preserve. (Fun fact: the golf course on Hampton, Ricefields, was built by Davis Love III.) Bullock felt the love for the region too and bought her own compound on Tybee Island. This is important because Affleck knows the area well and has used it to his benefit. He shot the final scene from his second directorial endeavor, The Town, at “Jack’s Shack” on Hampton Island, and then brought Live by Night here to create 1920s Ybor City in Brunswick. Since Bullock has her own production company, it’s not out of the question that projects she’s involved with could head this way too.
Brunswick’s turn as Florida’s Ybor City in Affleck’s 2016 crime saga Live by Night (see photos on opposite page) was far from the first time it’s been featured on screen, although the production may have been the intensive and long-running, with the entire process taking approximately six months. You can spot quite a few of your friends and neighbors on the big screen with bit parts and as extras. A special favorite is seeing Sal Cenicola, St. Simons Island’s own former boxer and pie guy. Rebecca Etheridge, another island resident who is active in the film industry in multiple capacities, worked in the production office for Live by Night. She can’t stress enough how beneficial it is to have productions like this take place in the community because it brings in not only dollars from the film company, but the people involved go out to eat and shop while they’re here and so much more. She also pointed out that even though the movie was panned and did not do well at the box office, it was nominated in 2017 by the Location Managers Guild International for an achievement award in the category of Outstanding Locations in a Period Film. For Brunswick, that means they liked us, they really liked us.
Reviews were similar in response to 1955’s “The View from Pompey’s Head.” This film based on a bestselling novel of the same name by Hamilton Basso starred a largely unimpressive Richard Egan as a Manhattan attorney who returns to his Southern roots after more than a decade to investigate missing royalties due to a famous author in a small South Carolina town. CinemaScope was new at the time and the film featured the old Oglethorpe Hotel. The beautiful settings and cinematography were highly praised, though the movie and performances of the actors therein were not.
LEFT: Jon Voight, Domingos Manita, Joe Willie Sousa, and Papa Joe Sousa during the filming of Conrack in 1973.
Two 1974 releases had pivotal scenes captured in Brunswick, though one is quite brief. The car chase at the beginning of The Longest Yard that landed Burt Reynolds’ character in jail, was shot on the old Sidney Lanier Bridge. You can find a clip of the scene on YouTube if you’ve never seen it. It’s worth watching just to hear his laugh! Coincidentally, it was Reynolds’ co-star from Deliverance, Jon Voight, fighting injustice and racism at Old City Hall, in Conrack, the movie based on Pat Conroy’s autobiography, The Water is Wide.
Joe Willie Sousa, who was 13 at the time Conrack was filmed, recalls his father, Papa Joe, and local teacher Harold Jennings trying to do whatever they could to get in on the movie production. They found their “in” by way of Domingos Manita, Papa Joe’s mother’s 80-something year-old cousin from Portugal. Joe says, “One day I came out to watch them filming downtown and there on the set, I see my dad and Mr. Jennings sitting in directors’ chairs, talking and laughing with the crew! I thought, ‘What?! How do I do THAT?!’” Papa Joe had met and instantly made friends with Martin Ritt, an assistant director on the film. When Ritt asked if they might know any old men they might cast for the scene, Papa Joe brought back Domingos. And since Domingos spoke Portuguese, he needed an on set translator, and Papa Joe was happy to step into that role. Joe recalls Ritt coming to dinner at the house to enjoy his mother’s
cooking, and another night when Jon Voight join them at the table. He also remembers the blue van Voight drove in the movie, “I’d love to have that van now!”
The movie’s schoolhouse scenes were shot at Taylor’s Fish Camp on St. Simons and cast several local kids as students. Our very own David Butler remembers going out there to play ball with the kids and Jon Voight. His mother, Nancy, had a bit part in the film, playing Mrs. Ryder, the storekeeper’s wife. She can recite the line from her scene in the store to this day! Unfortunately, others were lost on the cutting room floor. She tried out after overhearing members of the film crew talking about holding auditions one afternoon when she was having lunch with friends in Brunswick. She was called back to read again, with strict instructions not to wear jewelry or makeup. After the reading, Martin Ritt instructed the wardrobe department to “put her in something American Gothic.” Nancy laughs, “I can just picture that severe old
woman in the painting with the pitchfork. No wonder they said no makeup and no jewelry!”
Nancy thoroughly enjoyed her experience and was excited to share it with her family, bringing David along to the set on occasion. She says her late husband, Bob, was not nearly as thrilled. “He didn’t want to seem too impressed by Hollywood and thought I was making a big deal out of it.” She shares, “One night they invited everyone to come out with our families and watch the filming. Bob agreed to go – reluctantly. When Jon Voight walked up to us. I opened my mouth to say, ‘Mr. Voight, I’d like to introduce my husband...’, and Bob had already stuck out his hand and was shaking Mr. Voight’s, saying, ‘I loved you in Midnight Cowboy! I couldn’t believe it! I think he was a little star-struck.”
The highest acclaimed feature film to come out of the Golden Isles has been Edward Zwick’s 1989 Civil War drama Glory. The award-winning movie about the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment led by Col. Robert Gould Shaw, played by Matthew Broderick, featured a star turn by Denzel Washington that earned him both an Oscar and Golden Globe for Supporting Actor. Morgan Freeman, Cary Elwes, Andre Braugher, and Jihmi Kennedy also turned in stellar performances. Filming took place in Savannah and Jekyll Island, with the pivotal battle at Fort Wagner staged on the beach and dunes of Jekyll. That section of the beach is now known as Glory Beach and the wooden access to it that was built by the production crew to shuttle cast, crew, and equipment back and forth easily is “Glory Bridge.”
The historically significant side note here is that the 54th Massachusetts, which was the Union’s first regiment of Black soldiers in the Civil War, camped on St. Simons Island while preparing for the assault on Fort Wagner in South Carolina. This part of the story has a bitter note locally, because Col. James Montgomery ordered Shaw and his men in the 54th to burn the town of Darien. Outraged, but facing court martial if he disobeyed, Shaw complied. It’s been said that Shaw was so concerned that the reputation of his troops would be irreparably tarnished, that he worked even harder to ensure his men would fight beside whites in a battle that would bring them honor. Accordingly, he accepted orders to lead the second assault against the stronghold of Fort Wagner in South Carolina. On July 18, 1863, Shaw led the 54th up the well-fortified embankment under heavy gunfire, where he was shot and killed with many of his men. His body was thrown into a mass grave alongside them, but his family considered this an honor for him to rest beside the soldiers with whom he so valiantly fought. According to local historian Buddy Sullivan, Shaw’s mother knew about her son’s distaste for the raid on Darien from the letters he had written and helped fund the rebuilding of Darien’s St. Andrews Episcopal Church, which was burned in the raid. If you’d like to learn more about the raid, there is now a Burning of Darien Museum in the town that you can visit.
Another historic drama with mega-watt star power attached that chose Jekyll Island as its backdrop was Robert Redford’s 2000 film, The Legend of Bagger Vance. Set in 1931 with Matt Damon playing Rannulf Junah, a Savannah golfer who returns to the game he quit following his service in WWI. Will Smith is his mythical caddy, when he plays in an exhibition match that pits Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen against each other. Much of the golf was filmed on Kiawah Island in South Carolina, but a number of scenes were captured at the Jekyll Island Club Resort, especially on the front lawn and in the dining room. The pool was covered and used as a dance floor. A bar was built for the production and was such a popular attraction it was kept in service and is now accessible next to the main bar. While the movie received some harsh reviews, it was highly praised for the beautiful location, and fantastic cinematography.
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In 2010, locals got to brush up on their “6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon” skills while the veteran actor was in town filming X-Men: First Class on Jekyll Island. The cast also included James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Rose Byrne, January Jones, Oliver Platt, and Zoë Kravitz, among others. This origins story explored the relationship between Professor X and Magneto. The beach on Jekyll was the scene for a crashed aircraft and a beached submarine with fires burning everywhere. According to FOX Communications, Jekyll was chosen over Tybee Island for its “visual aesthetic,” easy access for travel, abundance of crew and equipment resources, and local housing availability. Filming took place from October through December.
For SSI resident, Rebecca Etheridge, this was a life changing event. Cast as an extra and put unexpectedly into a role where she needed to spend hours in a make-up chair, she struck up a friendship with make-up and special effects guru Frank Perez, know affectionately in film circles as “FX.” Rebecca says, “He encouraged me to go into the industry, saying it was a perfect fit for me, since I was creative, able to travel, and willing to work hard and long hours. I could do it on my own timeline and work as much or as little as I want.” She took that advice and works with film production, does some acting, handles casting on occasion, arranges, and even provides, transportation, among other things. She’s excited about the opportunities that can open up for Golden Isles with the completion of the film studio in Glynn County that’s just been given the green light. She says when a studio is scouting locations they want a place that can become “anywhere” or any period of time. We have outdoor locations like that, but our interior options are limited right now. Rebecca believes bigger productions will come here if we can offer productions a location that is amenable to their presence, provide safety and privacy assurances with little disruption, and have accommodations and services nearby that meet their needs. She explains it’s a win-win situation because the film productions come in with insurance, money to spend in the community, and they generally leave a location as they found it or in better condition. Just ask the folks who know what happened behind the scenes on Jekyll. They’ll be happy to tell you how well the clean-up after X-Men: First Class was done, despite some initial trepidation.
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In 2013, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues gave us the opportunity to see Will Ferrell’s outrageous anchor personality, Ron Burgundy, wrestle a shark. Here on St. Simons Island, we had the extra bonus of seeing them building a pool on the beach so Ron Burgundy could wrestle the shark. Ferrell, and his castmates Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, David Koechner, and Dylan Baker gave everyone a treat when they greeted folks who came out to the pier to watch what they could of the filming and did some hobnobbing with the locals. Quite a few pictures of cast members with island residents made their way around social media that week! These were welcomed, but typically productions like to keep things more low-key. Scenes for the movie were also shot inside the hangars at the airport, and the crew created a replica of the St. Simons Lighthouse to use on set. On the other extreme is 2017’s Hot Summer Nights. This coming-of-age film set in Cape Cod during the 90s rather surprisingly slipped under the radar while in town, considering it stars hot Hollywood up-and-comer Timothée Chalamet. In late 2018, Coast Guard Beach was also a shooting location for a beach camping scene in Dr. Sleep, the sequel to Stephen King classic, The Shining. The celebrity force of Star Wars was behind this film, with Ewan McGregor playing a now-adult Dan Torrance. He meets a young girl with powers similar to his and tries to protect her from a cult preying on children with powers in order to remain immortal. Word is that Mr. King himself liked the final result and so did fans of the Kubrick horror prequel – quite an accomplishment!
We know there are still others we haven’t mentioned, but it wasn’t our intent to give you an exhaustive list, just to point out that our area looks fabulous on the big (and little) screen. So do a little exploring of your own, pop some popcorn, and pick a few Peach State flicks to watch tonight!
