Savannah’s tree-lined squares and cobblestone streets have welcomed their share of fictional characters over the years.
From “Forrest Gump” to “SpongeBob Squarepants,” the local production industry has come a long way since one of the first movies to be filmed in Savannah, ‘The Young Don’t Cry,’ was shot in 1957.
The growth continued in 2017 with the industry contributing $137 million in economic impact to Chatham County, spread across 260 projects, including 12 feature films, 23 television projects, 13 commercials and 161 student projects, according to the recently released annual Savannah Area Film Office report.
“A lot of this is the steady uphill progress that you make. You’re not going to see huge jumps every year, I hope I’m wrong next year, but I feel really good about what we had here (in 2017),” said Beth Nelson, executive director of the Savannah Area Film Office.
