a.k.a. "Hollywood South"
"Covington's Historic Town Square"
Photo © 1992 J. Alan Palmer
| Below you will find a listing
of all the documented movies, television series and television movies that were either partially filmed or filmed on location in Covington, Georgia and the surrounding area followed by their year of release. If you click the titles, you will be redirected to the official listing for each title at the Internet Movie Database (IMDb.) A Man Called Peter (1955) False Face (1976) The Dukes of Hazzard (1979-1985) (TV series) The Prize Fighter (1979) Little Darlings (1980) Cannonball Run (1981) Coward of the County (1981 TV movie) Door to Door (1984) Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986) Resting Place (1986 TV movie) In the Heat of the Night (1988-1994) (TV series) A Father's Homecoming (1988 TV Movie) Sudie and Simpson (1990 TV movie) Carolina Skeletons (1991 TV movie) White Lie (1991 TV movie) Grass Roots (1992 TV movie) Stay the Night (1992 TV movie) I'll Fly Away (1991-1993) (TV series) My Cousin Vinny (1992) Consenting Adults (1992) Kalifornia (1993) A Passion for Justice: The Hazel Brannon Smith Story (1994 TV movie) The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All (1994 TV movie) A Simple Twist of Fate (1994) Past the Bleachers (1995 TV movie) Fled (1996) Savannah (1996-1997) (TV series) Miss Evers' Boys (1997 TV movie) Flash (1998 TV movie) Black Dog (1998) False River (1999) Wayward Son (1999) The Price of a Broken Heart (1999 TV movie) Remember the Titans (2000) Boycott (2001 TV movie) The Accountant (2001 short film) (Oscar® Winner for Best Short Film - Live Action - 2001) Autorequiem (2002 short film) Run Ronnie Run! (2002) Sweet Home Alabama (2002) Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius (2004) Three Wishes (2005 TV series) Madea's Family Reunion (2006) Randy and the Mob (2007) The Family That Preys (2008) H2: Halloween 2 (2009) Zombieland (2009) Get Low (2009) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For a full listing of what has filmed in and around Atlanta, click here. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The Accountant" in Covington  Poster © 2002 Ginny Mule Pictures The 2001 Oscar® winner for Best Live Action Short Film was made in the Covington area. Congratulations to writer/director/star Ray McKinnon, as well as his wife, executive producer Lisa Blount, and producer/co-star Walt Goggins on their award. To read their acceptance speeches, click here. I got the opportunity to see this short film on the big screen, along with the other nominated Oscar® shorts at a special screening hosted by a local film club in the summer of 2002. The film was hilarious and I ended up buying a copy on DVD. I've shown it to many friends and they just can't get over how enjoyable this little film is. Ray McKinnon is a recognizable character actor, who is probably most well-known for playing Vernon T. Waldrip, the suitor who beats up George Clooney in the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou?. Mr. McKinnon most recently appeared in select episodes of the acclaimed HBO western series Deadwood during its first season as the Rev. H.W. Smith. McKinnon's first feature film, Chrystal, opened in limited theatrical release on April 8th, 2005. He wrote and directed the film and it stars Billy Bob Thornton, Lisa Blount, Walt Goggins, Harry Dean Stanton and many others. If you would like to learn more about the film, click here. McKinnon's last film, a comedy titled Randy and the Mob, opened in limited theatrical release around the Southeast in the fall of 2007. To read more about it, click here. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "In the Heat of the Night" in Covington  The majority of the TV police drama In the Heat of the Night, starring the late Carroll O'Connor, the late Howard Rollins and Carl Weathers, was also filmed in and around Covington. First filmed in Hammond, Louisiana upon its debut in 1988, the production team soon moved to Covington. The many guest stars that appeared during the show's 140-episode run included Burgess Meredith, Iman, Robert Goulet, Victoria Jackson, Joe Don Baker, Tippi Hedren, Stella Stevens, O.J. Simpson, Diane Ladd, Louise Fletcher, Karen Black, Lois Chiles, Peter Fonda and Jean Simmons, among others. In the fall of 1993, the "Heat" cast & crew came to my street for a day and filmed at both my neighbor's house and at my buddy Chris' house on the corner. I even got to meet actor Larry Hagman, as he was the director of that particular episode. After the show was cancelled in 1994, CBS aired 5 more "Heat-themed" TV movie specials in 1994 and 1995, before officially ending production on the show. Click here for their synopsis of the series and it's history. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The "Dukes of Hazzard" in Covington  The first five episodes of the cult TV classic The Dukes of Hazzard were filmed in and around Covington, before the show relocated to California. According to the book titled The Dukes of Hazzard: The Unofficial Companion, published in 1998 and written by David Hofstede, several of the cast members were saddened to leave Covington: "I was assured that it was going to be shot in Georgia permanently", said Ben Jones (Cooter Davenport). "I still believe those original shows had a much better look". "I didn't like it", echoes Catherine Bach (Daisy Duke). "We had such a great situation down in Georgia", John Schneider (Bo Duke) said. "There was something important about our foundation in Covington". --------------------------------------- From June 27th-29th, 2003, the North American General Lee Fan Club, along with the City of Covington hosted a 25th Anniversary Hazzard County Homecoming! On Friday evening, there was a panel of Hollywood stuntmen (including Ted Barba, Gary Baxley, Corey Eubanks, Jack Gill, Henry Kingi, Bobby Orrison, Tom Sarmento, Russell Solberg and Al Wyatt) who did a Q&A session with all the fans in a packed community center meeting room. Afterward, they signed autographs for fans!  On Saturday morning, activities started at Legion Field, one of the local areas in Covington that can host large crowds. Several of the stuntmen performed a police car chase and then Al Wyatt flipped a police car on a pipe ramp. Then, Corey Eubanks hopped in a restored Charger from Smith Bros. Restorations and jumped it 125 feet in the air over the original police car that belonged to Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane in the first episode of the series, titled "One-Armed Bandits".  "The Big Jump" Photo © 2003 Action Imagers Inc. On Saturday afternoon, the celebration continued on the historic town square in Covington. Fans brought out their own General Lees and other vehicles for a car show/meet-and-greet session. Later that night and into the next morning, the stuntmen joined the fans outside the Holiday Inn in Conyers, GA and entertained us with stories of their careers in Hollywood.  The celebration ended on Sunday, as the stuntmen and fans gathered once last time on the Covington Square. The weekend was tremendous success and a hearty thanks goes out to Travis Bell (head of the North American General Lee Fan Club) and all the Hollywood stuntmen for their dedication to the fans! For more information and pictures, click here. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This page was last updated on February 26th, 2009 |
