Industry Types

Blue Whale Studios makeup artists with actor Chris Webber of Uncle Drew

Gwinnett County is a hotbed within the Hollywood of the South. Meet a trio of locals playing different roles in bringing top-grossing films and TV shows to your screen.

BY CANDICE DYER

Jonah Levy,

Special Effects Makeup Artist

Jonah Levy’s work is generally not the sort you study in college. The Duluth resident co-owns Blue Whale Studios, a creative studio focused on special effects makeup, which relocated from Orlando to Atlanta three years ago. “I began teaching myself from videos and books when I was 12,” he says. “There’s a lot of on-the-job training through trial and error.”

Based in a 5,000-square-foot facility, his company can do anything from applying a small “tattoo” to providing elaborate prosthetics, statues, and suits of armor. Blue Whale projects include Black Panther, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and Rampage. Says Levy, “We try to make magic.”

Beth Talbert,

Vice President of Studio Operations, Eagle Rock Studios in Norcross

As an executive at the country’s largest studio complex under one roof, Talbert understands that the film business revolves around relationships. “Most of my clients today are more than business associates; they are friends,” she says. Talbert started in the industry more than 20 years ago as an assistant at 20th Century Fox in Los Angeles. “I never dreamed I would end up in Georgia, but this is where the content is manufactured,” she says.

The most fulfilling part of her job? “There is no greater satisfaction than seeing your vision on the screen and knowing you had a hand in it.” Check out her studio’s work on Dynasty, Ozark, and Genius.

Will Baker,

Set Dresser

Will Baker concedes that he did not know what he was getting into when he became a set dresser a couple of years ago. “People have the misperception that on a film set, there’s a lot of sitting around, and then the action starts when actors walk on set,” says Baker, who is from Lawrenceville, “but a lot of heavy labor takes place beforehand.”

In the hierarchy of set dressing, the decorator chooses the props and furniture and designs a blueprint that the dressers then use to place the items. What’s the weirdest prop he’s ever positioned? “For The Resident we used a real transport table from a morgue. It had a grill for draining the blood. It was eerie.”

Gwinnett–Made

A sample of projects filmed in and around the county

Stranger Things The sci-fi cult hit used locations at Stone Mountain Park, Stone Mountain Cemetery, and Dominick's Italian restaurant in Norcross, while Gwinnett Place Mall stood in for Starcourt Mall.

Avengers: Endgame This Marvel blockbuster filmed scenes at Duluth High School.

Bad Boys for Life The third installment in the cop-buddy franchise filmed at Gwinnett’s OFS studios.

Ozark The Gothic Netflix thriller shot at Buford Dam and Eagle Rock Studios and in Berkeley Lake, Duluth, and Peachtree Corners.

Respect The Aretha Franklin biopic starring Jennifer Hudson filmed at Infinite Energy Arena.

The Outsider The Jason Bateman–helmed HBO miniseries shot scenes on OFS sound stages and in Buford and Lawrenceville.

Genius The third installment of the National Geographic docuseries filmed at Eagle Rock Studios.

Stranger Things