Filming ‘Best of Enemies’ helps Macon become best of friends with movie industry

Everywhere Jamal Mullen looks, he sees potential movie sets.

Saturday, the assistant location manager for the movie “Best of Enemies” again had his eye on Macon.

“It’s good to be back,” Mullen said, standing outside the mayor’s office at Government Center. “It’s a little hot, though there’s not much we can do about that.”

Crews stuck two large air conditioning hoses into windows on the back of the old City Hall to keep the building cool during filming that was expected to last until about 5 a.m. Sunday morning.

Georgia is a hot commodity these days for movie crews looking for cheaper venues than Hollywood and New York.

Last month, people lined the streets hoping for a glimpse of Taraji P. Henson, who stars in the movie set during the 1961 desegregation of Durham, North Carolina.

Macon’s memorabilia lining the halls of the building was replaced by photographs of tobacco farming and a map of Durham for the movie’s last day of filming in Middle Georgia.

Crews were expected to wrap up in early June, but they lost a day when Henson became ill.

Government Center was closed Saturday, but a handful of Macon-Bibb County workers were on hand to help with the transformation.

Atop a tall ladder, one worker was taping up the smoke detector to keep the fog machine from triggering the alarm.

“How does this look?” he asked Robert Ryals, facilitities management director.

“My main concern is activation, not cosmetics,” Ryals replied, as he explained that the crew will use the fog machine to create a smoky atmosphere in the commission chambers.

Macon-Bibb County Parks and Beautification director Sam Kitchens said workers have been changing out light fixtures, furniture, carpet and even the seats in the meeting room.

Although filming was expected to wrap up early Sunday, Government Center won’t be back to normal until Thursday, as crews will clean up and put everything back on Wednesday, after the July 4th holiday.

“We love it. I think it’s great for our economy, it’s great for our community,” Kitchens said. “It’s great to kind of get on the map, to know that people are coming down from Atlanta and are really looking at us. We’ve got the architecture and the infrastructure here in the city that people love for filming.”

Macon-Bibb commissioners Elaine Lucas and Virgil Watkins staked out chairs in the lobby, hoping to present Henson with a key to the city.

“She’s one of my favorite actresses,” Lucas said. “She’s just done so many wonderful movies.”

A wooden plaque that includes the key to Macon-Bibb County and is engraved for “Ms. Taraji P. Henson” has the inscription: “The best of friends make ‘The Best of Enemies.’ You are always welcome in our fair city.”

Now that Macon is seeing a steady stream of movies with recent the filming of Dwayne Johnson’s “Rampage” and last summer’s “Brockmire” television series, Lucas wants the local government to formalize a regulatory commission to oversee future productions.

“I think we’re losing out,” Lucas said. “I’ve seen so much money Macon-Bibb has spent that I see walking around here that we won’t get paid for.”

The current Macon Film Commission grew out of the Macon Film Festival, but Lucas does not yet have a formal draft of what she would propose in its place.

In the meantime, Mullen is staying in touch with local leaders.

“I’ll definitely be back to Macon as a scout,” Mullen said. “I’ll keep Macon on my radar and be sure to get back down here. ... I hear there’s some buildings that they’re going to let me blow up, if I want to, which is always fun. ... You guys just have a wide-open kind of atmosphere. There’s lots of different looks.”

Demolishing the old Hilton hotel, or other buildings, could be coordinated with a production company for a future movie, he said.

The community not only has the bricks and mortar and landscapes needed for multiple eras, the people have been a perk, Mullen said.

“Everybody’s wonderful. I appreciate the small town, just everybody wants to be part of the experience and make it happen for us.”

This story was originally published July 1, 2017 at 5:30 PM with the headline "Filming ‘Best of Enemies’ helps Macon become best of friends with movie industry."