ATLANTA — As the film industry in Georgia continues to boom, lawmakers are celebrating the state's success.
According to the Governor's office, the movie-making business has injected nearly $9 billion into the state's local economy, But as 11Alive found out, it's not all great press.
With all the bright lights have come hundreds of complaints against film production in the state. Take one neighborhood in Hall County. Residents there say their lawns were torn up and they were kept up all hours of the night by loud trucks.
In the Kirkwood neighborhood, residents said the film "Baby Driver" terrified people with who lived there when explosions started going off at all hours of the night.
And just this week, dozens of extras who worked for hours on the film "Summer Nights" say they were never paid. The extras 11Alive spoke to said they got drowned out by the excitement of the movies and felt like no one was being held accountable. So, 11Alive's Kaitlyn Ross set out to look into whether there is a watchdog group monitoring the complaints, and if so, what can residents do to have their concerns met.
It turns out, the Georgia Economic Development Commission regulates the industry, and complaints state-wide can be filtered through its office.
Though the commission can help people contact their local coed enforcement or district attorney's office, they do not have sanction power. That means they can't actually impose fines or write tickets.
11Alive asked Pat Wilson with the commission if there needed to be a watchdog agency to hold the production companies accountable in case something goes wrong, but Wilson said they very rarely have problems with the companies.
