The City of Douglas was recently contacted by the Camera Ready Program concerning a possible film location for an upcoming television series for Amazon.
The “Zelda” project will film in Savannah for the first two episodes and will move on to New York City. The request from the Georgia Camera Ready program was a location request for early barracks that were located within 1-1.5 hrs. away from Savannah. On Friday, April 29, Pattie Merritt, Camera Ready Liaison for Douglas-Coffee County, and Dale Batten, Community Development Director, met with Laura Bryant, the scout for the series “Zelda,” to look at the WWII airbase training barracks as a possible location for filming.
“Ms. Bryant was impressed by what she saw,” says Pattie Merritt. “We are thankful for an opportunity to show film producers a unique local landmark that is not located in any other part of the United States. Although we were not selected, we are hopeful for other interests in potential sites for Douglas and Coffee County that could lead to a film deal.”
The Camera Ready program began in 2010 with 16 counties as members. The program helps filmmakers locate film locations and identify through the camera ready liaisons who they need to talk to in Georgia communities. Douglas became a Camera Ready Community in 2011, along with 72 other Georgia communities.
As of September 5, 2014, all Georgia counties are now Camera Ready Communities.
Several photos of the airbase were taken while Ms. Bryant was at the location. These photos will be uploaded into the Camera Ready Program’s photo gallery “Reel Scout” for the purpose of possibly attracting the attention of more scouts to Douglas. As a Camera Ready Community, Douglas will continue to receive requests as inquiries come in from film producers.
If a location is selected, the liaison will work together with local businesses, agencies, and people to try to meet what the film producer is requesting. The City of Douglas has developed a filming policy should Douglas be chosen as a destination for films in the future.
– Submitted