The USA Network TV series “Royal Pains” will reportedly be using more than 600 extras in Savannah for its upcoming season.
The Savannah Morning News reports that film crews were spotted Monday at Daffin Park’s historic Grayson Stadium, home of the Savannah Sand Gnats minor league baseball team.
A release for a casting call issued a few weeks ago expressed interest in young male baseball players and experienced massage therapists, as well as extras between the ages of 18 and 50s for the show, the paper reported.
The show, which premiered in 2009, announced that it has been picked up for two additional seasons. Season five begins this summer.
On Saturday, the Savannah Film Office posted a Facebook message welcoming the “Royal Pains” cast and crew to Savannah and Tybee Island, and congratulated a local crew working on the production.
A person working on the production told the Morning News that about 300 extras were used on Monday, and that 600 local extras will have worked on the show by the time filing ends Thursday.
Georgia has become a hub for film of late and Savannah is quickly starting to keep pace with Atlanta as a prime location for both television and film.
Savannah set a record in 2012 for film production, according to a Savannah Film Commission report obtained by the Savannah paper.
A global film studio has signed a memorandum of understanding to build a $90 million movie studio in Effingham County, Ga., that will create more than 1,200 jobs
The City of Savannah Film Office worked with 242 separate projects last year, the report said.
The economic impact to Savannah was $26 million, which includes $12.2 million in direct spending.