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Charles Newirth Talks 'Ant-Man and the Wasp' as it Begins Pre-Production in Atlanta

Charles Newirth Talks 'Ant-Man and the Wasp' as it Begins Pre-Production in Atlanta

The Fox Theatre in downtown Atlanta recently hosted the Georgia premiere of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Shakefire had the opportunity to talk with Charles Newirth, who has been an executive producers of three Marvel films including the upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp. We spoke to him on the red carpet about the film, which is set to begin filming in Atlanta in the coming months.

 

Shakefire (SF): Ant-Man and the Wasp is about to begin filming here in Atlanta. What can you tell us about the production so far?

Charles Newirth (CN): Well we’re excited. We’re in pre-production right now on Ant-Man and the Wasp which will start shooting this summer. We will continue to here in Atlanta well through the fall. This is the second Ant-Man film to shoot here. In fact, the first Ant-Man film was the very first Marvel film to shoot here in Georgia. There have been many since then, and it just shows how much we love filming in Georgia. We have so much cooperation from the state, from the city. They have the best sound stages we’ve worked in at Pinewood Studios. We’ve really created a family here in the community. It’s been a wonderful experience. We’re bringing a lot of the same people who worked on the first Ant-Man film together on the second one so we’re off on an excited ride!

 

SF: What’s been the biggest change you’ve seen in terms of the development of Georgia as a filming from that first film to this most recent Marvel film?
CN: Now I wish I could answer that. This is my first film from Marvel in Georgia. I’ve worked in Georgia before on Forest Gump. That was a few years ago, haha. I think that what’s happened in Georgia is that there has been so much development in the film industry. So many people have either moved here or have grown up within the industry here. There’s such great local talent here. I find that it’s continually expanding every year. It’s a great thriving workplace, and we have the state to thank for it. They have a fantastic incentive program that has really taken root. It’s now a homegrown industry that has taken on a life of its own. That I think is the biggest change. You really see things explode here in terms of the kind of talent that’s available here and the kind of cooperation that we get.

 

SF: Can you talk a little bit about some of the locations that maybe you’re looking at for the film? Are you going to be mostly sound stage based or will you be out and about a little bit?
CN: Not yet. We will have location work and sound stage work. We are still under wrapped in terms of locations. I never want to tip the hat ahead of time. But we’re probably about 50/50, something like that. We have stage work, but we have a lot of location work. So I think the folks in Atlanta and the surrounding areas they’ll see us pulling in our trucks hopefully with a smile on our faces.

 

SF: But no Pym Tech anymore!
CN: Pym Tech is gone! We drove by there the other day. No more Pym Tech. It literally is what it became in the movie; a pile of rubble. We did drive by with the director, Peyton Reed, the other day and we all had a moment of silence for what was Pym Tech. It was sad.

Matt Rodriguez
Interview by Matt Rodriguez
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