SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) -- From "Forrest Gump" to "The Walking Dead," hit movie and TV shows filmed in Georgia can bring in millions of tourism dollars from fans coming to see shooting locations firsthand.
Lee Thomas, who runs the film division of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, says a boost in tourism is one of the biggest bonuses the state gets from having projects filmed throughout the state. In Newton County, where "The Vampire Diaries" is filmed, direct spending by tourists shot from an estimated $47 million in 2002 to $107 million in 2012.
Georgia created a state film office in 1973 after the movie "Deliverance" produced a tourist boom on the Chattooga River. It helped spawn a $20 million rafting and outdoor sports industry and still draws visitors four decades later.
