The upcoming season of the “Walking Dead” television show begins filming near the end of May and will feature an expanded presence in Coweta County this year. “Senoia will be a major set for next season,” (location manager) Mike Riley said, adding that Senoia’s Raleigh Studios will serve as the production’s other principal set while other locations in the area will play a more minor role in the production. “This (third season) is long-term. We’ll be here until November.”

“The storyline runs from a rural area to an urban area and back to a rural area,” Riley said, adding the benefit of having Raleigh Studios in Senoia. “We were here last year and much of the show was shot in this area.”

Since the beginning of the year, the state of Louisiana has given initial certification for 20 movies applying for tax credits, totaling more than $250.9 million of instate investment. Collectively, the movies have total budgets of an estimated $349.6 million. These totals do not include “Oblivion” or “The Host,” both pre-certified at the end of 2011.

In the last decade Louisiana has nurtured a blossoming film industry, evident by a stroll through the hallways of Celtic Media Centre, Managed by Raleigh Studios, where lawyers, accountants, insurance providers, movie producers, film equipment renters and more hold offices. For the last six weeks the Silverdraft Mobileviz, a mobile video studio, has been parked on the Celtic lot ready to begin work... (With) such a deep crew base, facilities like Celtic, and vendors like Hollywood Trucks, (Baton Rouge) Louisiana is really becoming a bonafide industry hub.

The Idea House is not the only thing happening in Senoia. The pairing and expansion of Riverwood Studios with Raleigh Studios continues to bring more business from the movie industry continues to ramp up the activity in a city that appears to be more recession-proof than most.