Meghann Fahy film The Girlfriend starts shooting in Birmingham

A film crew moved into Birmingham’s Forest Park neighborhood and turned Glen View Road into an active production zone as The Girlfriend began shooting there on June 29. The feature stars Emmy-nominated Meghann Fahy and Glenn Howerton, and filming was expected to run through July 31.

The project brings a clean, darkly comic setup with it. Claire leaves New York City for Alabama after her husband Elliot lands his dream job, then discovers he has secretly hired an escort to become her new best friend. Natalie Morales is directing, and the film is being made by XYZ Films and 21 Laps Entertainment, with Glenn Howerton and Rich Appel writing. That package matters in Birmingham because it looks less like a one-off stopover and more like a production built to move through a real local infrastructure.

There is also a local talent trail behind the camera. A casting notice in May sought Birmingham-area performers, which points to a production that intended to tap residents, not just use the city as a backdrop. When a feature starts calling for local faces, it usually ripples outward to crew calls, location days, small vendors, and the people who make a shoot feel like a functioning set instead of a parked trailer.

The Girlfriend is the second major Birmingham film shoot of 2026, following Crosshairs, which filmed at several city locations in March and later wrapped in Birmingham in early June. The back-to-back productions are the kind of visible momentum Birmingham has been trying to build for years, especially in neighborhoods where residents can actually see the work happening block by block.

That push has support behind it. Film Birmingham describes itself as the film commission for the Greater Birmingham region, with a mission to create job opportunities, generate revenues, elevate regional visibility, and advocate economic development. DeSean Motley, who manages the Birmingham Film Office, has said the city’s film economy is growing “from the top down and all the way to local shorts,” a line that fits what a Forest Park street full of production gear looks like on the ground.

The broader state pitch is built to keep crews coming back. Alabama’s Entertainment Office offers film and TV incentives for projects spending $500,000 to $20 million in the state, including a 35% rebate on payroll paid to Alabama residents and a 25% rebate on other qualified production expenses. Birmingham City Council also approved a $160,000 grant to Create Birmingham in January to help draw more film and TV work, a sign that the city is treating visible sets like the one on Glen View Road as part of a longer game, not a passing novelty.