From the Newnan Times-Herald:

Downtown Senoia is being transformed into a movie set this week for the filming of "Meet the Browns," a feature film adaptation of a play by Atlanta playwright Tyler Perry.

On Tuesday, filming was centered around the front of the former Hutchinson Hardware building on Main Street. The sidewalk in front of the store was turned into a bus stop for the film.

Filming will be going on all this week, through Saturday, said Scott Tigchelaar of Riverwood Studios. Wednesday and Thursday, crews will be filming at the home of Jack and Ann Merrick. On Friday, one of the lots owned by Historic Development Ventures, the partnership of Tigchelaar and Paul Lombardi, also of Riverwood, will become a carnival scene, Tigchelaar said.

"Meet the Browns" tells the story of Brenda, a single mom struggling to make ends meet in Chicago. When Brenda, played by Angela Bassett, is laid off, she starts to lose hope, until she gets a letter telling her that the father she's never met has died.

Brenda takes her children to rural Georgia for the funeral, and there she meets the fun-loving family she never knew. Perry directs and stars in the movie, as both Uncle Joe and Madea, the wild, no-nonsense character he made famous in "Diary of a Mad Black Woman."

Main Street was a bustle of activity Tuesday, with dozens of Senoia residents coming to watch the production.

Riverwood has been located in Senoia for years, and the tax incentives passed by the state of Georgia a few years ago have brought the movie industry back to the area. Last year, country singer Toby Keith starred in "Broken Bridges," and before that, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Beyoncé starred in "The Fighting Temptations."

Charles Sykes, owner of the Senoia Coffee Company, loves the effect the movies have on the town.

On Tuesday, his business was up 50 percent. Movie crew members arrived in droves, he said, as did the residents watching the filming.

"I don't know how it affects the other businesses, but for us, it's great," Sykes said. He made sure to have a few extra people on hand to take care of the demand, and added he might keep the shop open a little later in the evenings while filming continues.

He thinks the movies will also generate interest in the town. "When word gets out that they're filming here, people will come to Senoia to see what's going on. And then they'll come back and shop," he said.

"I think that people will enjoy the periodic excitement of having a movie made here," he said.

"It adds a little excitement to people's lives. It does to mine, anyway."