By Ashley Hughes
"American Crime,” a gripping new ABC Studios crime/drama series, could be using the Hays County Government Center in San Marcos to film some of its episodes.
The series, written and directed by John Ridley, follows the fallout in a California town after a racially-charged attack kills a young war veteran and leaves his wife in a coma. Ridley won an Academy Award for best adapted screenplay for “12 Years a Slave.”
“American Crime” stars Felicity Huffman, Timothy Hutton and Earl Brown.
Mark Kennedy, Hays County’s attorney, said they are still negotiating the contract for ABC Studios to use the property. This agreement would give the studio the ability to film up to three episodes. If ABC accepts the contract, filming could start as soon as the signing is complete and last until late fall.
Although there is no finalized filming schedule, Kennedy said there are windows in August, October and November that ABC requested.
“It is likely that they will be there filming one or two days for each episode,” Kennedy said. “My job is to make sure that the public functions of the building are not obstructed in any way.”
Kennedy expects negotiations to be complete by the end of this week.
“[The Hays County Government Center] has a few things to offer them and some flexibility of space,” Kennedy said. “The building has some features they are interested in like the a sally-port entrance at the building’s back to bring prisoners in for court proceedings. Also the amount of space gives the staff, actors and cast a lot of space to work and eat.”
ABC also plans on using Courtroom 3 and 4, the holding area and conference rooms.
Kennedy said the amount of parking spaces is another selling point of the building as the film crew would be able to park their vans and other vehicles without interfering with the public function.
