Naman Shrestha
Co-written and directed by William Wages, ‘The Neon Highway’ stars Rob Mayes as Wayne Collins, an up-and-coming country musician from Nashville who dreams of making it big in the industry. However, his plans are cut short when he meets with an unfortunate accident, leading him to live an ordinary life by working a 9-to-5 job to barely support his family. A couple of decades after his accident, he crosses paths with the popular and well-established country musician Claude Allen, resulting in the restoration of Wayne’s passion for country music.
Together, Wayne and Claude decide to head to Nashville to pitch a song, but due to the changing country music industry, it gets rejected. Thanks to his determination, Wayne comes up with a way to beat the system and release the song publicly for Claude instead of himself. Although a majority of the drama film is set in Nashville, questions regarding the actual shooting sites arise in the minds of the viewers.
The Neon Highway Filming Locations
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, the cast and crew of ‘The Neon Highway’ managed to shoot the entire film in just a matter of a month or so in Georgia, especially in Columbus, Pine Mountain, and Hamilton. Starting in late February 2021, the principal photography for the Beau Bridges starrer was wrapped up in late March of the same year. The primary reason for shooting the Nashville-based film in Georgia was the lucrative tax incentives.
Columbus, Georgia
The production team of ‘The Neon Highway’ took over the consolidated city-county of Columbus, which lies on the Chattahoochee River, to lens most of the pivotal sequences. One of the primary sites where they set up camp during the shooting process is the School of Nursing at Columbus State University at 4225 University Avenue in Columbus, Georgia. Besides that, several local bars of Columbus, such as The Loft at 1032 Broadway, Bobby’s Bar at 1720 A Morris Road, and Soho Bar & Grill at 5751 Milgen Road, were turned into film sets to shoot bar scenes for the film. Various key portions were also recorded in and around the former Carmike building around 1301 First Avenue and the Georgia Power building.
One of the film scouts who got the opportunity to become a minor part of ‘The Neon Highway’ shared his experience of being on the set with the star-studded cast, including Beau Bridges. He wrote, “As I stepped onto the set of ‘The Neon Highway,’ I was greeted with a sight to behold— they gave me a whole trailer to myself, with my name on the front door and everything. I was even given makeup. Talk about feeling like a bona fide Hollywood star! Even with just three lines, I soaked in every moment, from rehearsing in my trailer to witnessing the hustle and bustle of a full-fledged movie set, I kept thinking how great it was to see a movie set in Columbus.”
Other Locations in Georgia
For the purpose of shooting, the filming unit of ‘The Neon Highway’ also got out of Columbus and traveled to the city of Hamilton. Specifically, reports suggested that they were busy shooting scenes in the Uptown and Midland regions of the Hamilton area. A few important scenes were also recorded in and around the Valley Inn & RV Park at 14420 US Highway 27 North in Hamilton. The town of Pine Mountain also served as a filming site for the drama movie.
During an interview with SciFi Vision, Beau Bridges and Rob Mayes were asked about one of their favorite scenes from the movie. The former revealed, “…One scene that I enjoyed is getting in there with all these guys in the control booth and laying down – we did it in an actual recording studio, and laying down a tune, that was kind of exciting. Being a part of a professional music scene was kind of fun for me. I enjoyed that.” On the other hand, Rob said, “…There’s a scene where I jump up on stage and I perform one of my own songs, and I’m playing it with the great Lee Brice, and he’s actually singing high harmonies above me on that song. I’ll never forget (it), because he’s, I think, one of the greatest out there. He was like, ‘Man, this is a high song.’ I said, ‘Well, if anyone can do it, anyone can hit those notes, it’s you, man.'”
Read More: Best Coming of Age Movies on Netflix
