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Filming returns to downtown Covington
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Filming in Covington began Thursday for NBC’s made-for-TV movie "The Magic Eye" a tale about high school football in small town America.

The movie will air on NBC June 11 and stars Dick Van Dyke and Faith Ford, who played Hope on the show TV series "Hope and Faith."

Crews filmed on Floyd Street and Thompson Avenue Thursday and will be filming on the square at the Trading Spaces store today.

"We were just looking for pretty, small-town America, and Covington fits that well. It certainly

has one of the most attractive squares in the state," Location Manager Mark Cottrell said previously.

Local chamber officials recently spoke to state legislators in favor of keeping the state’s film tax credit. Thursday local merchants spoke up.

Peter Mehta, general manager Baymont Inn and Suites, told Tourism Director Clara Deemer if "Halloween II" had not filmed in 2009 in Covington, he did not know where his hotel would be.

"For two and half months they stayed with him as well as many other hotels in Covington. Peter was asked to make a list of local doctors, banks, grocery stores, restaurants and numerous other businesses which was then handed to each person staying in his facility," Deemer wrote in an e-mail. "We also know they used many other resources in our community while filming."

The latest crew from Disney’s "The Odd Life of Timothy Green" have stayed three weeks and required Mehta to hire additional staff,

Several other hotels also benefit from the stays of filming crews, Deemer said.