As Georgia celebrates 40 years of filmmaking, the spotlight is shining on the small town of Senoia

Visitors to Senoia might well experience a sense of déjà vu. Indeed, many who have never before set foot in the idyllic small Southern town 25 miles south of Atlanta will find it familiar. While that feeling might owe in part to its Main Street U.S.A. charm, it’s more likely that they recognize the town from one of the 24 movies and television shows that have been shot there in as many years. The first was the 1989 Oscar-winning best picture Driving Miss Daisy, and almost every year since, a major production—from Fried Green Tomatoes and Sweet Home Alabama to Meet the Browns and Footloose—has been filmed in Senoia. “Riverwood [now Raleigh Studios] has been there a long time,” says Lee Thomas, director of the Georgia Film, Music & Digital Entertainment Division. “It’s completely transformed the town.”

Today, hit television series The Walking Dead and Drop Dead Diva are bringing filmmakers and fans to town. “Senoia has become a zombie mecca,” says Andrew Lincoln, who plays sheriff’s deputy Rick Grimes on The Walking Dead. “I’ve become the cultural attaché for the town,” he jokes, explaining that he welcomes friends who are in the state filming movies such as The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. “It’s booming down here. It’s the Hollywood of the South. I have nothing but praise for this place. I don’t want to do this show anywhere else.”
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