Jeff Celentano is the director of the biographical sports drama film “The Hill.” The movie tells the inspirational story of Rickey Hill, a baseball legend who overcame a degenerative spinal ailment that required him to wear leg braces.
The movie chronicles the player’s journey as he tackles familial problems in addition to physical obstacles. Celentano’s skillful direction transports the audience to the 1950s and 1960s, fully engrossing them in Rickey Hill’s world and way of life.
One wonders where the production team shot the movie, given the captivating imagery of the bygone era.
For as long as he could remember, Ricky had a deep-rooted desire to play baseball and make it to the professional leagues. Ricky (Jesse Berry) has physical limitations that keep him from moving and sprinting like his friends, yet his faith and self-assurance never waver.
He presses onward, his steps supported by leg braces. During this adventure, Ricky finds an unwavering source of support in his brother Robert (Mason Gillett), who gets giddy every time Ricky defies the forecast and tosses the ball farther than anyone could have imagined.
Their financial situation is not ideal, as Ricky’s father, Dennis Quaid, the pastor of a nearby church, finds it difficult to make ends meet.
Ricky’s father would occasionally receive warns from his grandmother, who was distressed by the family’s financial circumstances and held him accountable for their struggles.
The whole “The Hill” filming process was conducted in Augusta, Georgia. Late in 2021, especially in November and December, a lot of filming took place in and around the city at various locations. Let us now, without further ado, walk you through every location where “The Hill” was filmed.
Filming Locations
Augusta, Georgia
The majority of “The Hill” was filmed in Augusta, Georgia. The city plays Rickey Hill’s real hometown of Fort Worth, Texas, in the movie. The main scenes of the movie were filmed in Augusta in several well-known locations by the production crew.
The baseball park located at 78 Milledge Road in Augusta, Georgia, is home to Lake Olmstead Stadium, where the sequences featuring Hill’s professional games were shot. Constructed in 1994 and 1995, the stadium has hosted several Minor League and collegiate baseball teams.
The Central Savannah River Area (CSRA), an area in Georgia and South Carolina used for trade and marketing, is another place that appears regularly in the movie. The Georgian side of the CSRA is said to have been used by the production team to film several key scenes.
The Wrightsboro Church, located at 4713 Wrightsboro Road, Thomson, in McDuffie County, an Augusta county, was also the site of a few filming scenes.
The Wrightsboro Church serves as a stand-in for a church in rural Texas in the 1960s because Rickey’s father is a minister in the movie. Along the Savannah River in Augusta, in Columbia County, the actors and crew of “The Hill” were also sighted filming some scenes.
The film was partially filmed in the Georgia-Carolina State Fairgrounds, which is located in Augusta at 308 Hale Street. For example, the flashback scenes where Rickey and other kids are playing baseball were filmed on the ground.
In an interview with the local newspaper, actor Colin Ford, who plays the movie’s main character, talked candidly about his experience filming in Augusta.
The actor talked about his enjoyment of going shopping in the city in his spare time, particularly at antique stores. “I am very excited to return and shop. I discovered several vintage coffee cups and other strange trinkets, as well as this adorable tiny Tennessee metal object that I put up in my workplace. I was born in Nashville.
Ford said to The Augusta Chronicle, “I purchased my mom a metal bird. Gardens, parks, and woodlands are some of Augusta’s most well-known natural features. The urban city infrastructure combined with the rural settings make it the perfect place to film a wide variety of projects.
The Suicide Squad, The Mule, Agent Game, The Royal, The Last Days of Billy the Kid, Greyhound Attack, Savannah Sunrise, The Assistant, My Brother’s Keeper, A Cold Day in Hell, Prescription for Love, For the Love of Christmas, and The Other Side of Me are just a few of the movies that have been filmed in the city in the past.