Newnan halts future filming projects until May

Decision will not affect upcoming production of “Jumanji 2”

The city of Newnan has yelled “cut” on all filming projects until May.

At their last meeting, the Newnan City Council voted unanimously to suspend all new filming in downtown until the city can reassess the process of allowing pro- duction companies access to the city.

Mayor Keith Brady brought the matter before council, adding the item to the agenda Tuesday evening.

Brady said the decision would not affect the upcoming production of “Jumanji 2,” which is slated to begin next month.

“Jumanji 2” — or “J19” — hopes to close two sections of West Washington and East Washington Streets on Feb. 4 and 5.

Crews hope to recreate the Christmas season, including snow, for the shoot. A portion of the movie will be filmed around the Newnan Square, including 19 W. Court Square and 8 E. Washington St.

“We’re a film-friendly town and want to remain one, but we all recognize we have an obligation to our citizens, property owners and business owners to protect their rights and the ability to carry on without inconvenience and make a profit,” Brady said.

The halt on filming is exclusively set in the 9-block radius of downtown Newnan. Brady said smaller-scale filming projects would still be allowed.

“Those that need a fourperson crew to walk around with a camera, that’s not an inconvenience,” he said. “We’re not trying to shut down the industry in Newnan, we’re just trying to add shape and form to what we do so it makes our job easier, along with our staff and the industry, too.”

The decision was made, in part, based on the frequency of larger-scale filming projects in the last several weeks, according to Assistant City Manager, Hasco Craver.

“We’ve seen an extraordinary amount of requests for the use of public streets and sidewalks, so much that it’s disrupted our everyday commerce,” Craver said, “It’s been quite difficult to manage under our current system, so we’ve stopped issuing permits so that it will allow our staff to sit down and rework it.”

The city plans to have an updated policy by the end of April.

Recently, crews from “Brooklyn” — an HBO TV drama about law enforcement — requested the full closure of West Washington between Brown Street and West Court Square and the southbound parking lane on Brown Street from Jan. 13 through Jan. 20, to recreate a street fair.

Several business owners cited their displeasure with the production, primarily regarding parking issues.

Jason Kanner, owner of Ace Beer Growlers on West Court Square said while he was fairly compensated for the inconvenience, other business owners might not be.