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ALBANY, GA -- Dougherty County is ready for its close up and hopes that Hollywood thinks so too.

That’s because the film industry brought an estimated $770 million to the Georgia economy in 2009 and Dougherty County wants a piece of the tinsel town pie.

Lisa Riddle is the director of the Albany Convention and Visitors Bureau and says bringing the film industry to Southwest Georgia would have significant economic impact.

"These people come in, they stay in our hotels for a substantial period of time, they hire local workers to build sets, to cater meals, everything," said Riddle.

Earning the ‘Camera Ready’ designation was a journey worthy of a blockbuster action hero, filled with red tape and requiring a database of picturesque images to lure movie producers to town.

One of the reasons Albany and Dougherty County are appealing options for film makers is a wide variety of locations in a central area, like plenty of tree-lined neighborhoods, the Flint River, lots of open farmland, and even vacant buildings.

Riddle says that being known as the location of a hit film can also generate tourism dollars.

"If a film is produced here, then people who are fans of that movie will want to come here to visit, just so they can see where it was filmed," she said.

Rachelle Beasley of the Albany Welcome Center says the experience gained by the successful movies produced by Sherwood Baptist should give the area a leg up.

"We’ve already had films here so we already, you know, have people who know how to do it and know how to get it done," said Beasley.