Social Circle to play host to filming of an as-yet unnamed Netflix streaming service

Filming is expected to take place late spring

Social Circle has regularly been a filming location for movies, TV and other video productions, with shows like “The Dukes of Hazzard,” “In the Heat of the Night” and recent films including “Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase” and “Jerry and Marge Go Large” representing just part of its impressive list of credits.

But a Netflix production coming to the city in late May and staying through mid- to late June will be particularly noteworthy even for a city used to hosting TV and film productions, the Social Circle City Council learned at its Thursday night work session.

“This is so big, it’s important for Amber (Amber McKibben, the city’s Downtown Director) to let you guys know what’s going on,” City Manager Eric Taylor told Mayor David Keener and the city’s four councilmembers.

What’s going on, McKibben told them, is the filming of part of the first season of a planned Netflix video streaming show being produced by Warner Brothers that is so new it has only a working title. McKibben said the production will make serious use of downtown and other parts of the city.

“It’s a very big footprint that they’re going to have,” McKibben told the mayor and council. And if things work out, she added, the production could come back to Social Circle for a second sea- son of filming.

For the upcoming first season of the not-yet-titled show, a location manager and others associated with the production have already visited the city, McKibben said. They met with downtown business owners, and began making plans to install a Ferris wheel (on a temporary basis) in downtown’s Friendship Park.

At present, Social Circle’s role in the pro- duction will be as the site of an Independence Day festival,
McKibben said, with downtown Social Circle decorated for the Fourth of July holiday and Friendship Park reworked as a carnival site.

While production dates remain subject to change, set-up for the production is currently estimated for May 26-June 5, with filming slated for June 8-12, and breakdown of the production, returning Social Circle to its non-cinematic state, scheduled now for June 15-18. Work on the production could, however, include some dates in August, if any re-shooting is necessary, McKibben said.

As part of talking with downtown businesses about plans for filming, representatives of the production company have, among other things, set up accounts with Social Circle restaurants, McKibben said.

According to McKibben, reaction of downtown businesses to the production, which will restrict access to their businesses – they will be compensated for losses due to the production, McKibben told the mayor and council – has been positive.

“Summer months are slow months for businesses downtown,” McKibben explained, noting that the presence of a production crew will bring business to downtown enterprises that they otherwise would not have had.