Tinseltown Comes to GSU

Rick Grimes (Actor Andrew Lincoln) surveys destruction along Forsyth Street during the first episode of AMC's post-apocalyptic series, "The Walking Dead." Photo courtesy of AMC TV.

The undead prowl the streets around GSU during the first episode of AMC's television series "The Walking Dead," as well as in the opening scene of "Zombieland," starring Woody Harrelson and Bill Murray. Woodruff Park - a place that has seen its share of characters over the years - is the setting for a climactic scene in "The Change-Up," a body-switch comedy starring Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds.

Atlanta has become a hot location for Hollywood producers, and the attention the area is receiving has become a windfall for graduates and students of the Department of Communications' film and video programs, said Kay Beck, professor of communication and director of the Digital Arts and Entertainment Lab.

"I would guess that probably half of the people working in the film industry in Georgia went to Georgia State or are studying here," she estimates.

Beck said that the undergraduate film and video program as well as graduate programs in moving image studies and film, video, and digital imaging prepare students for all angles of work in the industry. Many students have interned at local production companies or at the family of networks at Turner Broadcasting System, Beck said.

"We also keep a very extensive listserv for producers to access," Beck said. "And that runs the gamut from grips to extras, all the way up to directors."

It was the Georgia Production Partnership and the Georgia Film Commission, organizations of which Beck is a member, that lobbied in 2005 to pass a tax incentive as part of House Bill 539, making it more attractive for films to shoot here.

GSU students and grads are working to keep Georgia in the limelight. For example, Bill Thompson (B.S. '79, M.A. '84) is the newly elected director of the Georgia Film, Video and Music Office. And on screen, Scott Teems (B.A.'99) is reaping awards - including the Juried Award for best film at the Atlanta Film Festival - for his directorial debut, "That Evening Sun," starring Oscar nominee Hal Holbrook.