Bet You Didn’t Know: Secrets Behind The Making Of “ATL”

Jellybeans and Cascade

If you look at T-Boz’ very early interviews regarding the film, you may hear her calling the project “Jellybeans.” That’s because that was the original name of the skating rink in Atlanta. They were even planning on filming there. But the rink, which was poppin’ in the ’80’s had been shut down. And instead they had to find another location. Which is how they discovered Cascade. Before they even got into the building, the full parking lot let them know that the energy was what they were looking for. Production designer Robb Buono explained, in the film’s production notes, how he and Chris Robinson discovered the place.

“Chris and I had been to several other rinks. We got to Cascade about 10:30pm. There were cars parked all along the highway, the parking lots were full and the gas station across the street was full. We had to park about two blocks away and walk in, and there’s such a scene, such energy outside. We’re just in awe. Then we went inside and the energy was even greater.”

So to fix it, Buono made the colors red and black to convey intensity and make the rink feel larger than life.