Atlanta business owner claims movie production is hurting his coffee shop

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Café Lucia’s location at Walton Street and Forsyth Street in downtown Atlanta gives it consistent foot traffic and hungry customers.

However, owner David Jackson said that starting Thursday, Feb. 22, business is going to take a hit because a movie is coming to town.

Jackson said he received a notice last Thursday from ABC Signature LLC, saying they will be setting up base camp right outside his business on Walton Street, shutting down the sidewalk and street traffic for roughly three days with their camera crews, 12 trucks, cranes and equipment.

“I got notified the other day that ABC was doing a film right in front of my store not even a half of a block away from my business,” Jackson said. “With them dressing, filming, striking, we’ll lose roughly $3,500.”

“I’ve done roughly 120 to 150 movies. I know the impact that they are going to have on my business, and because we’ve done so many, I know that when people see them they don’t want to come, and they don’t want to deal with a riffraff of a movie,” Jackson said.

He claims production companies usually mitigate the impacts on his business by reimbursing him for any loss in sales due to the shoot, either through an upfront fee or by purchasing services from his business.

“But this production coming in is going out of their way to be difficult, and they’re saying, ‘We’re not going to impact you, we’re not going to use your business, we’re not going to stimulate this economy,’” Jackson said.

Jackson said he hasn’t gotten anything saying he’ll be compensated for his lost business, either.

“I think the best thing that could happen is that there is a set fee so that when the movie comes they say, ‘OK, Café Lucia, all right, I know I need to pay them,’” Jackson said.

The City of Atlanta notified Jackson with a letter, so Atlanta News First reached out to the city, The Georgia Film Office, and the ABC production team to see what they were doing to ensure local businesses like Café Lucia aren’t impacted by productions. None have responded with an official statement.

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