BRUNSWICK, Ga. – You might not realize it, but the city of Brunswick and some surrounding areas have been captured in dozens of big-time movies and TV shows.
For decades, film crews have stopped in the area to shoot scenes that millions of people have seen.
For example, several blocks along Newcastle Street in historic downtown Brunswick were transformed into a set for the 2016 movie “Live by Night.” Ben Affleck wrote, directed, produced and starred in the movie.
He used the streets to stand in for Ybor City in Tampa in the 1920s during the Prohibition era.
Otis Putnam, who was born and raised in Brunswick, has made it his mission to share the experience when he spots film crews in action in his hometown.
Putnam has documented a few different times when film crews showed up in and around Brunswick for movie scenes.
That includes scenes from “Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever” that were shot at Mary Ross Waterfront Park.
“It brings light to this area,” Putnam said. “Because Brunswick is not a big town, but it’s not really a small country town either. It puts it on the map.”
One of the scenes from the 1974 movie “Conrack” with Jon Voight was filmed inside one of the courtrooms at Old City Hall.
In the same movie, a scene was shot on an outside staircase on the side of the building.
Several other parts of “Conrack” were shot on St. Simons Island, including at Taylor’s Fish Camp and Cannon Point.
“It is just great to have them in the area, movie stars here, TV stars,” Putnam said. “It is great for the economy, all kinds of things like that.”
The classic opening scene police chase in the 1974 version of “The Longest Yard,” starring Burt Reynolds, was filmed on the Sidney Lanier Bridge.
Below is a picture of what the bridge looked like in 1978.
Several other major films shot scenes not too far away.
Parts of “X-Men: First Class” were shot at Driftwood Beach on Jekyll Island.
Scenes from the 1989 Civil War movie “Glory” were shot on the island, especially the battle depicting the assault of Fort Wagner.
Jekyll Island is also where Putnam recorded a video during the COVID-19 pandemic showing a set being built to film a little bit of the newest edition of “The Color Purple” that came out in 2023.
Well-known stars Danielle Brooks, Fantasia and Taraji P. Henson played main roles in the movie.
“I got to walk on this set while they were building it,” Putnam said. “It was really awesome. My videos started out as just putting them on as history. But I found out that the elderly and people who could not get out and go to these places, it became a big thing for them to watch on Facebook.“
St. Simons Island got some shine when scenes from “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues,” starring Will Ferrell, were shot on the island, including the wedding scene on the beach and the interaction with a mechanical shark.
Parts of the classic TV miniseries Roots in 1977 were also filmed on St. Simons Island.