‘The Bikeriders’ movie shooting scenes in Hamilton proves filmmakers attracted to area

‘The Bikeriders’ features Austin Butler, Tom Hardy and more celebrities.

HAMILTON — The Austin Butler-Tom Hardy movie “The Bikeriders” began filming around the Greater Cincinnati region, and on Thursday, the iconic Jolly’s on Brookwood Avenue took center stage.

The drive-up stand known for its root beer floats will be in the movie as a scene with Australian actor Damon Herriman (Judy & Punch, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood).

The movie location was found, in a roundabout way, through Film Cincinnati, the agency helping “The Bikeriders” navigate the logistics needed to make the production, including finding locations. Crews were at Jolly’s on Brookwood on Wednesday and began filming the scene Thursday morning.

“I’m not sure how it happened,” said Bill Henry, manager at Jolly’s on Brookwood. Through a series of conversations, which included Film Cincinnati Executive Director Kristen Schlotman and Hamilton-born filmmaker Vince Jolivette (grandson of Jolly’s founder Vince and Betty Jolivette).

Through a series of conversations, they came across Jolly’s, both on Ohio 4 and Brookwood Avenue, as well as Flub’s. They took photos and provided them to the director, who decided the Brookwood Jolly’s fit the vibe of the movie.

Mindy Muller, of Film Hamilton, said the city is “the perfect filming community” with various locations “that catch the eye of filmmakers.”

“The film commission community is tight and cooperative,” she said. “Film Hamilton’s goal from the start was showing off our charming city through film. We support projects from both Film Dayton and Film Cincinnati and are always excited to see more films come to our community.”

Muller said it’s an “exciting time” for Film Hamilton and the city as “there are more films in the works.”

Productions are attracted to Ohio, and in particular, the Cincinnati region. The region, which includes Hamilton and Butler County, ranked 11th in MovieMaker magazine’s best 25 places to live and work as a filmmaker, which was the top Ohio region. Cleveland was the only other Ohio region on the list.

A big driver to make movies in the Buckeye State is the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit, which provides a refundable tax credit of 30 percent on production cast and crew wages, plus other eligible in-state spending. This tax credit was created in 2009, and since that time, there have been several productions to use Butler County locations, including more than a dozen in Hamilton. One of the most recent in Hamilton was the movie Dark Waters (Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins).

One of the first movies that Film Hamilton worked on was Chain of Command (Steve Austin, Michael Jai White) a decade ago, and Film Hamilton has worked on more than a dozen films of varying budgets that qualified for state tax credits either in Ohio or other states. The biggest impact film productions have on Hamilton is the economic impact, where film crews for Chain of Command, which had a reported $5 million budget, were in Hamilton for 21 days, and alone spent $40,000 at the Courtyard by Marriot, according to Film Hamilton.

For FH is economic impact … worked on one of the first … Chain of Command, and Michael John White and Steve Austin (2012) and small budget and, in 21 days, spent $40K in the Marriot.

The Bikeriders is a movie inspired by the Danny Lyon photography book of the same name set in the 1960s and follows the rise of a fictional Midwestern motorcycle club as told through its members. The story evolves over the course of 10 years from a group of outsiders into more of a sinister gang, according to IMDB.com.

It’s an all-star cast, and in addition to Butler (Elvis), Hardy (Venom, Dunkirk), and Herriman, includes Jodie Comer (Killing Eve, Free Guy), Michael Shannon (Knives Out, Boardwalk Empire) and Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead).

The movie will film in other locations around Butler County, according to Henry. A notice to neighbors in Hamilton, The Village Inn will be another backdrop for the movie. Filming at this location will be on Oct. 26, with setup happening the day prior, according to the notice sent to neighbors in the area.

Filming for “The Bikeriders” in Cincinnati began recently, including at the Edgewater Motor Sports Park in the suburb of Cleves, according to CityBeat.


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See photos of Thursday’s filming at Jolly’s.

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