Final 12 months, I had the nice fortune of visiting the set of Blumhouse’s upcoming horror film “The Lady within the Yard.” It passed off in a university city referred to as Athens, Georgia, about an hour away from Atlanta, give or take. What I anticipated to come across throughout that go to was some behind-the-scenes data of Jaume Collet-Serra’s return to the horror style. What I did not count on to find was how Todd Phillips was chargeable for a near-total ban on filming on the College of Georgia that lasted greater than 20 years.
Phillips is finest often called the director of DC’s $1 billion smash hit “Joker” from 2019. Earlier than that, he was identified finest for his work in R-rated comedies like “The Hangover.” His first foray into the style was 2000’s “Previous College,” which served as his characteristic directorial debut. He’d beforehand directed a documentary about Phish referred to as “Bittersweet Motel” and an unaired HBO documentary referred to as “Frat Home,” however this was his popping out social gathering as a filmmaker.
Throughout the set go to, we spent most of our time at Athena Studios, a then-newly constructed manufacturing facility simply exterior of Athens. “The Lady within the Yard” was one of many first main productions to make use of the power. Talking with Joel Harber, the President and CEO of Athena Studios, he revealed that they’ve relationship with the College of Georgia, which is basically on the coronary heart of Athens.
“Via that relationship we’ve an inroad to have the ability to get productions onto campus if wanted. In order that’s one thing that is been comparatively shut down for the final 20 years or so,” Harber defined to me and the opposite journalists in attendance. So, why was manufacturing shut down on campus for greater than 20 years, precisely? “Once I was in class there, there was a film referred to as ‘Highway Journey’ that was filmed there,” He added. “Highway Journey” was the offender.
The College of Georgia wasn’t thrilled with Highway Journey
For individuals who might have a refresher, “Highway Journey” facilities on Josh (Breckin Meyer) who movies his affair with one other lady and by accident mails it to his girlfriend. After realizing his error, Josh and two of his faculty buddies head out on an 1,800-mile, debaucherous highway journey from Ithaca, N.Y., to Austin, Texas, to avoid wasting his relationship.
Regardless of being Phillips’ first narrative characteristic, he had the backing of a significant studio in DreamWorks and an honest finances to work with. As Harber additional defined, he additionally had the complete cooperation of the College of Georgia:
“They had been like, ‘Yeah, positive, movie anyplace. If you wish to get within the stadium, you need to do that.’ They had been far and wide. The film got here out and evidently, the administration was probably not thrilled.”
The film was a success, one which spawned a little-seen DTV sequel titled “Highway Journey: Beer Pong,” nevertheless it was additionally an R-rated, sex-filled, teen romp that is not precisely the form of factor a prestigious college sometimes needs to be related to. “I do not suppose that gelled with the picture they needed to undertaking,” Harber stated. “In order that they principally put up an iron gate and stated, ‘You possibly can’t come out right here anymore.’ So there’s been little or no filmed on campus since then.”
Phillips went on to have a giant profession, most lately directing “Joker: Folie a Deux,” which was a giant industrial bomb. Perhaps which means he’ll return to R-rated comedies for a change of tempo. As for Harber and Athena Studios, they’ve truly been working with the College of Georgia to creating filming on the campus potential once more by getting the varsity’s college students concerned straight:
“We have been working with UGA to try to loosen that up. After which make a few of that filming about getting the scholars concerned and it is like, ‘Hey, you need to movie on campus? We’d like 20 headsets and college students in video village and we wish them to have the ability to be part of that.’ And so that is what’s taking place proper now.”
“The Lady within the Yard” hits theaters on March 28, 2025.