Atlanta, Georgia - Movie buffs are heading to Georgia in their droves to follow in the footsteps of their big screen heroes.
With many film and television series being made in the US state over the past few years thanks to a lucrative tax credit, a screen tourism boom has followed.
Blockbusters made in Atlanta and the surrounding counties that are slated for release in the next year include The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 & 2, Taken 3, Insurgent (sequel to Divergent), and Fast and Furious 7.
Hit series The Walking Dead, The Vampire Diaries and Constantine also bring millions in revenue and employment to the state.
Attracted by a tax credit of up to 30 percent for productions of $500 000 or more, film and television crews have flocked to the southern state.
“Georgia has been the backdrop for many high-profile productions, all of which have a huge fan following,” says Lee Thomas, deputy commissioner of the Georgia Film, Music & Digital Entertainment Office.
“Fans from all over the world will want to visit the locations of their favourite film and television shows.”
According to the Georgia Department of Economic Development, 158 feature film and TV productions were done this financial year, with $1.4-billion spent on production.
Tour companies specialising in showing fans film locations for Hunger Games and The Walking Dead do big business.
The Hunger Games Unofficial Fan Tour charges $100 a ticket to take fans on a tour of Atlanta, including The Goat Farm in West Midtown, which stood in for the coal mining community of District 12 in the films, and The Swan House at the Atlanta History Center, used for President Snow’s house in Catching Fire.
The Atlanta History Center has seen 5 000 people take the Capitol Tour since it began last November.
The Goat Farm is also one of the stops on the Big Zombie tours bus route. More than 10 000 have been on the tours since 2012.
In the UK, it is estimated one in 10 visitors is attracted by film locations they see on screen. – Daily Mail