“Hollywood East” Cinema Going South

In October of 2011, North Carolina Governor, Beverly Perdue, made an announcement that would drastically change the NC Film Industry. After months of debating over three different shooting locations, the producers and directors of the smash Ironman franchise finally decided to film the third film in Wilmington, NC. This comes as a surprise to the slowly dwindling coastal film industry, which for the past few years has been hit severely by budget cuts and threats to retract recent changes to tax incentives. With the threats, has come a strong decrease in productions headed to North Carolina as a whole and this sudden flux in productions in the past few months has certainly turned heads. However, although business may be picking up for NC film, the state government is still questioning the effects of the current incentives for productions and the importance of the industry in the state.

In 1983, Wilmington was “discovered” by Frank Capra and Dino DeLaurentis while scouting locations for their film Firestarter, focusing on a young girl with pyrokinesis (the ability to set fires with her mind). The film team stumbled upon a large home that was perfect for a CIA hideout that was required to be burned down within the film. The house they found was the Orton Plantation mansion, a historic plantation outside of Wilmington, which caused quite a few problems for the crew due to the age of the house. In the years this film was made, crews normally would cover a home or part of a set-in asbestos to produce a realistic burn, so the crew is able to control it with more ease. However, with the age of the house and the fact that the family still lived inside the house at the time of filming, a usually controlled burn was not an option for the crew. “Dino wanted to layer the house with asbestos to do a controlled burning, and that was completely out of the question with the age of the house. The original part, after all, is from 1725” (Nance 19). Their solution brought hundreds of filmmakers to the area. The crew built a full-scale model of the façade of the house on the same property as the mansion and burned it to the ground. Southport Rescue Squad Chief, Tom Florkewicz, recalls “… when they lit that fire so big, they couldn’t contain it themselves… We got called out at about 2:30 in the morning. We didn’t really put much out but protected the area to make sure it didn’t burn the rest of the world” (Nance 21). The strange execution of this controlled burn caught the attention of so many filmmakers and put Wilmington on the map as a major competitor in the film industry.

Since 1983, Wilmington has been home to Screen Gem/EUE Studios, housing hundreds of productions including popular television shows such as One Tree Hill and Dawson’s Creek. The popularity of the town has increased in the past three years but is still hindered by the state tax incentives. The incentives were built as a way to interest productions in states other than California and New York, the entertainment capitals of America. The current North Carolina Tax Incentive is 25% cut with a one million salary cap. A current example of this incentive in motion is Ironman 3. Ironman himself, Robert Downey Jr, made approximately 12.5 million dollars with Ironman 2 and is expected to increase that with this production. Since North Carolina has the one-million-dollar salary cap, essential parts of the incentive are voided. This has caused severe losses for Wilmington production bids including films such as The Last Song. The film was shot in Georgia due to their 20% tax incentive, minus a salary cap. Also included in the long list of lost bids, the popular TV shows Revenge and Hart of Dixie. The pilot episodes were filmed in Wilmington and surrounding areas in North Carolina but were soon moved to stages in California due to the tax benefits. This came as a hard hit to the NC film studios as the 2011 production year was set to be a major success. However, 2012 is beginning to look up as Ironman 3 starts production in June of 2012.

As Wilmington Regional Film Commissioner, Johnny Griffin stated in an interview, “If you’re looking to make a film, you have all local people, the sound stages, and a community that is used to making films… Those looking to produce or make films, North Carolina and Wilmington are great places to work right now” (“Johnny Griffin:”). The southern hospitality and mild climate make Wilmington a top choice for the industry’s filmmakers. Since Screen Gem Studios was established in 1983, hundreds of trained crews and industry professionals have made Wilmington and other major cities, like Charlotte and Raleigh, their home. Griffin has said that even if a town had perfect locations, the availability of a good crew and talent can make or break a film (“Johnny Griffin:”). Wilmington is nationally known for its established crews and this fact may be quite appealing to filmmakers, the incentives prevent them from committing to the small town. The incentives strongly influence the Wilmington and state economy. In Wilmington, the film industry is a major economic boost to the city. When the film industry is thriving, the city thrives and so does its locals. Unfortunately, in the past 5 years, it has been hard for many local crew members to find work. As the show One Tree Hill was winding down in their 9th season, many crews began to search for work in other states, as Wilmington was “closing their doors” to the industry since no other mainstream projects were slated to start filming until late 2012. Michael Malone has been a script supervisor in Wilmington for over a decade and prides himself on many of the wonderful productions he has worked on at Screen Gems and within the state. Some of his projects include Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Radio, and his favorite, One Tree Hill. With the slow decline in productions, Malone has been forced to relocate his family to where the jobs are, Michigan in his case. “Wilmington is home to me, to my kids. It doesn’t feel right. With projects packing up and none coming anytime soon, I feel like I have no choice and these new changes to film laws aren’t helping…” (“Michael Malone:”). Without a thriving industry in the town, many locals would lose their jobs and Wilmington would lose one of its most prized industries.

In late 2010, the North Carolina State Legislature opened discussion on a bill that would change the current tax incentive from 25% to a lower 20%, and possibly decreasing it over the next 10 years (“Johnny Griffin:”). These discussions came months after the original incentives had been passed. The shows, Hart of Dixie and Revenge, didn’t renew their contracts to film in the state after these new talks began, moving back to California and claiming it was more affordable. The NC state legislature argued that only certain areas of the state were benefiting from these films coming to the state, so not all towns were receiving the benefits from films in production in their economy. However, hundreds of films have been filmed in small cities and towns across the state, such as Winston-Salem and Boone. The films, 5th Quarter was filmed in Winston-Salem, as well as The Mandie and the Secret Tunnel franchise being filmed in Boone and other areas of the Appalachian Mountains. Since these decisions, thousands of industry professionals in the state petitioned the legislature stating that if the tax incentives were eventually removed, or decreased in any way, thousands would lose their jobs, be forced to relocate, and state tourism would drop. A solution that has been offered by these industry professionals has been to keep the incentive at 25% and increase the salary cap. With the increase in the salary cap, larger budget films would come to the state and spend more money in the cities they film in since they’re receiving that25% back. This would be a huge benefit in the state, increasing revenue in smaller towns, creating thousands of jobs, and giving the state a leg up in the industry. For this trend to continue, industry professionals need to have an opportunity to be heard. Quite a few petitions and members of the film community have come forward to fight for the incentives to be changed in favor of the potential films coming to the state. The organization “Don’t Fear the Cape Fear” (found on Facebook), uses its social media base to raise awareness on the issue to encourage members of the community to reach out to local members of the government to speak up. As the government begins to realize people care about this issue more than just talking about it, they may be more inclined to take a better look at removing the restrictions on the 25% incentive.

For almost 30 years, North Carolina has been a staple in the film industry, starting with Firestarter and now continuing with Ironman 3. If North Carolina and Wilmington want bigger films to return for production, actions must be taken to improve the incentives by the crews and talent that it will affect if not changed. Opportunities include writing to local politicians about the issue, starting petitions around the workplace, or even just getting involved online. If this change happens, Governor Perdue can make a few more big announcements in favor of the North Carolina film industry’s bright future.