Gwinnett County company to film in Griffin next month by Matthew W. Quinn
A Gwinnett County company will be filming a prison tale in Griffin in April.
Frank Dievbiere, the producer and director of the film “Redemption 316,” explained the film’s plot, which is partially based on a true story.
“The movie is about a college sophomore that was convicted of killing her roommate,” he said.
The two roommates had a fight and one of them fell and hit her head. The local district attorney, who was up for re-election, did everything he could to convict the woman without really investigating what happened. The protagonist ends up in prison, where she is caught up in gang violence and sexually abused.
Dievbiere said he is coming to Griffin between April 23 and April 25 to film the prison scenes at the old city jail and the old county jail. He and his assistant will be in Griffin next week in order to examine the locations and ensure they are ready for filming.
“I was looking for a location that was unique,” he said when asked why he plans to film in Griffin.
Most prisons in the Atlanta area would not permit filming due to some trouble that occurred in the Fulton County Jail earlier. The places that did permit filming in their prisons during the daytime charged too high a rate.
When Dievbiere arrives, he will bring 20 to 25 people to film. He estimated it will take a whole day to film the necessary scenes.
“We’re looking at a maximum of two days, about a minimum (of) one full day, from the morning until the later afternoon,” he said.
The jailhouse sequences represent 50 of the film’s 90 minutes.
When the film is complete, Dievbiere said it will be primarily shown in Atlanta and other parts of Georgia and possibly in neighboring states. New York and California will see premieres as well. In addition, portions will be put on DVD and distributed in order to raise money to finish the rest of the film.
Downtown Development Authority Executive Director Adam Causey spoke before the Griffin and Spalding County boards of commissioners on Dievbiere’s behalf when the commissioners voted to permit Dievbiere to film in certain locations.
Since Dievbiere wished to film in downtown Griffin, this went to Causey.
“I’m all for anybody who wants to do any type of filming in Griffin,” he said.
He cited “Driving Miss Daisy” and “The Fighting Temptations” as films made in the city.