By Amanda Raymond

amanda.raymond@salisburypost.com

Filming for a new television show on Fox will be taking place in Salisbury on Wednesday.

According to Linda McElroy, communications director for the city of Salisbury, the 120-person crew of “Shots Fired,” a television show from 20^th Century Fox Television and Imagine Television, will be filming in front of the Rowan County Courthouse.

The Salisbury Police Department will control traffic on North Main Street from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The courthouse will remain open, but parking will not be allowed in front of the building. Citizens can enter the front door from the side stairs.

There may be lane closures throughout the day, but they won’t be continuous.

Actual filming is expected to begin at around noon. It will be on the front of the courthouse steps with a cast of protesters. Citizens are welcome to stand along the east side of North Main Street to watch.

McElroy said the project was a joint effort between Rowan County and Salisbury.

“Shots Fired” has been filming in Kannapolis and Concord. At the end of March, the Independent Tribune reported that camera crews were seen in downtown Kannapolis, and the show had its base camp near the old K-Town Furniture building.

According to Fox.com, the show follows Ashe Bell, an expert investigator played by Sanaa Lathan, who is looking into cases involving racially charged shootings in a small town. Stephan James plays a special prosecutor named Preston Terry who is sent to the town by the Department of Justice.

Lathan is known for her roles in the movies “The Perfect Guy” and “Love & Basketball,” and James has been in “Race” and “Selma.”

Also in the cast is Helen Hunt (“As Good As It Gets,” “Mad About You”), who plays Patricia Eamons, the governor of the state, and Richard Dreyfuss (“The Goodbye Girl,” “Jaws”), who plays Arlen Cox, a real estate mogul and owner of a privatized prison. Stephen Moyer (“The Bastard Executioner,” “True Blood”) plays Officer Breeland, who is in the town’s Sheriff’s Department.

The show will debut this year.

‘Purpose’ also filming

The short film “Purpose,” written, directed and produced by Michael Lee Denny, is also filming in Salisbury.

The film is about how a young woman’s life changes through an interaction she has with stranger at a bus stop.

The filming is taking place on East Fisher Street from 6 a.m. to noon on various Sundays through late August.

East Fisher Street will be closed to vehicle traffic during filming, but businesses that are usually open will remain open and can be accessed on foot.

Contact reporter Amanda Raymond at 704-797-4222.