Hollywood of the South

The U.S. state of Georgia is well known for peaches, Coca-Cola and as the home of one of the busiest airports worldwide, the base of Delta Air Lines. Interestingly, in recent years, Georgia's film industry has become the third most popular U.S. filming destination right behind New York and California.

Covington, GA, now calls itself The Hollywood of the South™ and has become a go-to site for TV and films. It easily changes to become a Civil War village, a 1950s town or a modern city. Many locations in the town have been used many ways in multiple films. The city's scenic filming locales, moderate weather, and international airport have become a major draw for location scouts, and directors. 

Neither did I until our recent road trip, which included an afternoon in Covington, GA. That's because my cousin, Kathie, who we were visiting in Atlanta, and myself are fans of the popular Netflix show, Sweet Magnolias. The series premiered in May 2020; the second 10-episode second season premiered in February 2022. Kathie and I had binged finished both seasons.

Heather Headley (Helen), Brooke Elliot (Dana Sue),
JoAnna Garcia Swisher (Maddie) - Netflix

For those not in the loop, the series revolves around three South Carolina women (Maddie, Dana Sue, and Helen), best friends since childhood as they deal with personal issues in family, romance, and career in the small town of Serenity, SC. The stories are based on the novels of author Sheryl Woods which are set in the small town of Serenity, a world created by Woods. 

While on the small screen, Serenity may look and feel like a real Southern town, it's not that, but is completely fictional, like in the books. The book and show setting is SC, actual filming is in the small, picturesque town of Covington, GA (pop. 1,400) a 45 minute drive from Atlanta. The town won out over locations like Baton Rouge, LA and Charleston, SC. Interiors are shot on sound stages too.

Shows filmed in Covington, GA

It's not the first time that Covington, GA, has been a filming location, far from it. The town has been the filming location for Dukes of Hazard, The Vampire Diaries, In the Heat of the Night, The Walking Dead, Sweet Home Alabama, Remember the Titans. That’s only a sampling of productions that have featured the town square, neighborhoods, and the iconic downtown courthouse. Covington was known as Mystic Falls, VA, for The Vampire Diaries and the popular teen series was shot there for 9 seasons. 

The day of our visit, we were we met many fans of that show who were also looking some movie magic. 

We recognized many Covington landmarks we had seen in the Sweet Magnolias series. 

The downtown square in Covington is heavily featured in the series. We recognized that we had seen many scenes that had featured characters sitting and talking there. 

The square, which is in the center of town, is a public park with war monuments, benches, and trees near the historic courthouse. The busy downtown has shops, antique stores and restaurants and is very walker-friendly. Other parts of the town feature historic homes with wraparound porches. 

Newton County Courthouse, downtown Covington, GA

The town's most prominent downtown building is the 1884 Newton County Courthouse seen in the show's opening and in the background of scenes. This historic courthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The tall brick building features a black dome at the top and a prominent clock. It was built in 1884 in the Second Empire architectural style popular between 1865 and 1900. Its 12-month construction cost was nearly $30,000.

Mystic Grill Restaurant, Covington, GA

In the show, a popular Covington eatery, the Mystic Grill Restaurant, is named Sullivan's, a restaurant owned by chef Dana Sue. This location was also featured in The Vampire Diaries. As shown in the photo above, there was a waiting line the Saturday we visited. The bar area is on the lower left and Grenville's lunch is in the lower right. The interior did not look like the restaurant in the show, not unlike when we visited the Cheers location years ago in Boston.

Lee-Porter Mansion, Covington, GA

We located another show location, The Corner Spa, which is a historic Antebellum home at the corner of College Ave and Oak St (The Lee-Porter House) that is a fitness spa for women (it was formerly Miss Frances's mansion in the show). It now houses law offices and exterior shots were filmed here. It's not open to the public with Private Property signs posted, but we took exterior photos from curbside. The show's interiors are filmed on a soundstage. 

Covington was incorporated in 1821 as the seat of the newly organized Newton County. It's named for Leonard Covington, a hero of the War of 1812, U.S. Army Brigadier General and later Congressman. In 1854, it incorporated as a city. In 1864, General Sherman's troops looted the city, destroying many buildings, however, several antebellum homes were spared including one featured in a now classic film.

Twelve Oaks B&B, Covington, GA

Hollywood has been a part of Covington's fame for decades back to 1939 when Gone with the Wind premiered in movie houses. The Twelve Oaks mansion of Ashley Wilkes was based on a stately 1836 antebellum mansion there. It was a private residence when Margaret Mitchell wrote the novel. Reportedly, after seeing it in the Atlanta Journal newspaper, she sent a clipping to the Hollywood set designers with a note, I like this for Ashley’s home. Since then, other films and shows have used the mansion's exterior and interiors for scenes. It is now the Twelve Oaks Bed & Breakfast, a luxury accommodation with antique furnishings and architecture.

If you're wondering (like me) why although Hollywood is considered the heart of the film industry, Georgia has staked a claim as its Southern campus. It's become one of the busiest filming states — it comes down to business and location(s), a wide range of scenery including mountains, forests, cities and beaches. 

The state has been working to attract Hollywood since 2008, when its former governor signed a lucrative tax incentive for film productions, Georgia Entertainment Industry Investment Act (HB 1100). It offers a 20 percent incentive on productions of $500,000 or more in GA, plus 10 percent more if a peach logo is put in the credits. The incentives are similar to those in other states but, unlike those states, there's no end date. Since its signing, the incentive has transformed Georgia’s film industry into a multibillion dollar production. All genres and film types are considered by its film commissioners.

Georgia is producer Typer Perrys base whose Atlanta studios are set on 330 acres on the decommissioned Fort McPherson Army base. Pinewood Atlanta Studios built a campus in Fayette County with 18 soundstages on 700 acres making it the largest multi-purpose  studio built outside Hollywood, CA.

One day, it could be fun to visit Hollywood, CA, but on this recent trip, GA was a lot closer and we spent a wonderful day outing with a family member.