One Gainesville official is hoping the movie "Rampage," a film starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson that includes a few scenes that were shot in Gainesville, will serve as a launching pad for more movies to come to town.
Regina Dyer, Manager of the Gainesville Convention and Visitors Bureau, served as the liaison for the producers of "Rampage," helping guide the crew to parts of town that matched the types of locales they were looking for.
The crew, including The Rock, were in town in May 2017.
"It's always very exciting, but honestly, I consider myself more of a concierge. I basically just field the calls. And when they first called, I didn't even ask about the movie, because my job is just to make sure that person gets what they need," said Dyer.
Producers apparently prefer that, since keeping the movie's information under wraps can also help keep the crowds away, especially when a big name like The Rock comes to town.
Dyer said much of her consultation with the producers included coordinated trips to "Google Earth," mapping out possible locations for shooting, like the city's "bamboo forest." It also included finding a "base camp" for all the cast and crew to park, meet and setup.
"It's a very big logistic puzzle to work with, and it took about two weeks" to setup, said Dyer.
"Once she narrowed down those locations, what I did is I made the connections. I reached out to those folks that had the property they were looking at, and said, 'Hey I've got a company that's looking at filming or utilizing your space."
The hope, Dyer said, is to potentially turn this experience into a launching pad for Gainesville in the film industry.
"We've had several movies (in town). We've had 'Thank You for Your Service,' 'Baby Driver' and 'Blended.' We've had big films here, and with each one, we've gotten the same response of: 'The City of Gainesville is certainly very accommodating and very easy to work with'," said Dyer.
Other local areas have seen the film industry's impact as well.
Hallmark took over Downtown Dahlonega to film one of its many Christmas movies in 2016. The television show "Dynasty" spent a few days at Suwanee City Hall in September, and elsewhere in Gwinnett County the crime show "The First 48" received permission to follow Gwinnett County Police officers in August. The 2012 movie "Wanderlust," starring Jennifer Anniston and Paul Rudd includes scenes shot in Habersham County and other North Georgia locales.
