I’m not sure why Hi-Tech is keeping all of its recent movie signage up – unless it’s attempting to become a major stop on some non-existent Decatur Movie Bus Tour – but god help any unsuspecting driver who pulls in to our eccentric gas station for a fill up.

Marla sends in these pics posted on Photobucket…

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…for today’s Drop Dead Diva filming.

Scott sends in a couple somewhat mystical and dreamy iPhone shots from the street.

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Whoever thought filming tax credits could provide so much joy?

The Decatur Minute, with it’s close proximity to all Decatur permits, gives word of Past Life filming around the intersection of Ponce and North Candler today.

Also, Lifetime’s Drop Dead Diva is returning to film around the Square next Monday.

Has the novelty worn off yet?

Cheryl reports over on The Decatur Minute that an indie film entitled Shrinking Charlotte will film in Decatur some time in August.  The romantic comedy about “three single men who stalk and date a woman in therapy” stars Brittney Murphy, Sam Trammell, Billy Zane and Kathleen Turner, according to IMDB.

Ah, the trials and tribulations of imaginary life.

Georgia’s new, massive tax breaks for film studios have turned the city of Atlanta into a movie set overnight!

Once free to live there lives in relative peace, residents are now reporting having to fight with big-glasses-wearing famous people over silm milk and Truvia at the local coffee shop and attempting to open doors in cardboard-cutout buildings.  (Disclosure: The previous sentence is untrue and should be viewed as creative-license gone horribly wrong) It’s madness not seen since the Villa Rica goldrush!

There have been THREE reports of filming around the city and its surrounding environs in recent days. First there was a report on Twitter recently about filming in Oakhurst this past week.  Then this morning the city’s Cheryl Burnette reports filming in the Economy parking lot at Arcadia and College.  And finally, Rob writes in about some pretty intense filming going on in Candler Park…

Have you heard any info on what is being filmed at the corner of Oakdale and Iverson (block north of Candler Pk Marta station)? For the past few days, dozens of trucks have been parked outside the house on the corner lot. And today, as I walked by on my way to the station, a cherry picker was hoisting lighting equipment. And this afternoon on my walk back through, the back yard was a-buzz with what appeared to be actors taking their marks. There are no signs anywhere about it though.

Do I know what any of this is?  Of course not.  If you do, please fill the rest of us in.

Over at The Decatur Minute, Cheryl reports one of Fox’s newest series, Past Life, will be filming in Decatur and Atlanta for the next eight months (!) before premiering the network next February.

From what I can tell there are no zombies associated with this show, though the premise seems just as out-there as Woody Harrelson going on a zombie-killing rampage.  Something about reincarnation and solving crimes.

That’s the bad news.  The good news is that it’s got Toby from West Wing!

Here, just watch the promo…

Make no mistake about it.  The AJC is stoked about movie and TV filming in Georgia.  While entire counties now go without local coverage, the amount of stuff written about Lifetime’s locally filmed “Drop Dead Diva is eye-popping.  Did you know that Paula Abdul and Liza Minnelli were guest-stars?  Of course you did!

So needless to say, it was in the AJC that I discovered that the Lifetime pilot will air this Sunday at 9pm.  Much of this episode was filmed in Decatur and Midtown, so make sure to set your Tivos/DVRs/VCRs/recordable laserdiscs, so you get all giddy about seeing all your favorite Decatur locations in HD.

Oh, and the other thing I learned from the AJC’s in-depth article: filming has now permanently moved away from Decatur/Midtown to Peachtree City because of “traffic”.  They’ve even built “a courtroom modeled after a vintage one in Decatur, save for the marble, which is not earthquake-code compliant” down in the golf-cart mecca.  ehm…Lame!…cough..cough…

Is that Tyler Perry way in the back?

Darren writes in with a report and some pics from a wild and crazy day of filming at The Grange.

About 3 times as many people and stuff showed up then what I expected for the 1.5 minute scene at the pub! Amazing as 5 people have speaking parts it means they shoot the scene 5 times with at least 5 different angles!

All very professional and amazingly fast at setting up – the slow downs were the lighting and artistic guys getting the shots the way they wanted them. That was Tyler Perry’s black RV by the dumpsters. The other cast were bussed in from nearby hotels.

We’ll be back open on Wednesday.

A few more pics after the jump…

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First on DM…

The Grange Public House will be closed this coming Monday and Tuesday for filming of Tyler Perry’s upcoming sequel “Why Did I Get Married Too?“, which stars Janet Jackson.

The Decatur neighborhood pub was originally slated only to be closed Tuesday, but the unexpected death of brother Michael has altered Janet’s schedule.  Therefore filming will take place Monday, but the Grange will remained closed both days.

Small world.

Ann writes in and lets us know that the first Zombieland trailer – with a quick shot of Abigail Breslin outside at the Gas ‘n Gulp – is now online.

As the trailer so poignantly notes, all this talk about a bad economy and climate change is distracting us from the real issue at hand: a rampant zombie population.