Crews from the widely successful Hunger Games movie franchise returned to Dawsonville last week to wrap-up scenes for Mockingjay Part 2, the last segment in the four-part series.
While closed to the public and kept relatively quiet around town, the filming on a large parcel of land off Elliott Family Road did draw the attention of motorists that saw the telltale movie directional signage along Hwy. 53 beginning on Wednesday.
"Dawson County continues to draw filmmakers from companies both large and small due to our accessibility and desire to work with these groups to make their local experience as easy and positive as possible," said Christie Haynes, the county's Camera Ready liaison.
Locales in Dawson County have been the backdrop for a movie each of the last three years, beginning with Clint Eastwood's Trouble with the Curve in 2012.
Much of the movie, which also featured Justin Timberlake and Amy Adams, was filmed at Amicalola Lodge inside the Dawsonville city limits.
A year later scouts with the Hunger Games chose the western Dawson tract land to shoot for its third and fourth installments.
Most recently, scenes for Walk in the Woods, starring Robert Redford and Nick Nolte, were filmed at Amicalola Falls State Park. An adaptation of Bill Bryson's memoir, the movie chronicles his hike of the Appalachian Trail, which starts near the top of the falls.
"Georgia has officially become the ‘Hollywood of the South,' which is an industry that we can expect to only grow over the coming years," Haynes said. " Tourism groups are blossoming from fans who want to visit film sites, the number of individuals employed in filmmaking is growing at an exponential rate, and even our local colleges and universities are adapting their curriculum to equip their students to be employed in the film production field."
Georgia has been one of the country's leading locations for Hollywood film production for a several years, thanks in part to state tax breaks and other incentives.