Atlanta owner claims movie production is hurting coffee shop

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Café Lucia, located at Walton and Forsyth streets in downtown Atlanta, has a steady flow of customers and hungry customers.

But owner David Jackson said business would take a hit starting Thursday, February 22, due to the movie’s release.

Mr. Jackson said he received a notice from ABC Signature LLC last Thursday and set up a base camp just outside his business on Walton Street, along with a cameraman, 12 trucks, a crane and cameramen, about The plan was to close sidewalks and roads to traffic for three days. Device.

“I got a call the other day that ABC was filming a movie right in front of my store, less than half a block away,” Jackson said. “When they dress up, shoot, and walk out, we lose about $3,500.”

“I’ve been in about 120 to 150 movies so far. I know the impact they have on my business, and we’ve done so much that people don’t like them. You know if you see it you don’t want to come and you don’t want to deal with their disrespectful attitude. It’s a movie,” Jackson said.

He said production companies typically reduce the impact on his business by paying an upfront fee or purchasing services from his business to cover lost sales from filming.

“But they went out of their way to make this work and they said, ‘We’re not going to influence you, we’re not going to take advantage of your business, we’re not going to provoke this.’ I’m talking about the economy,” Jackson said.

Jackson said he has also received no compensation for the lost business.

“The best thing that can happen is that the price is set and then when the movie comes out they say, ‘Okay, Café Lucia, I get it, I know you have to pay.’ I think that’s the case,” Jackson said.

The City of Atlanta notified Mr. Jackson: So Atlanta News First reached out to the city, Georgia Film Authority and ABC’s production team to see what they’re doing to ensure local businesses like Café Lucia aren’t affected by the production. . No one has responded with an official statement.

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