North Carolina is home to a long distinguished film history that continues to thrive. For more than a century films have been drawn to the local scenery and production values found in North Carolina. Ranging from big box office mega productions to small cult-classic films and everything in between, much of the history of North Carolina is reflected in its relationship with film.
Early Days
In the early 1900s, the mountains of North Carolina became popular for outdoor productions taking advantage of cooler summers and gorgeous mountain and wooded scenery. However, with the rise of “talkies” in the 1920s more advanced sound stages were becoming a necessity.
The first in-state studio run by a North Carolinian was in Winston Salem. North State Films was founded by W. S. Scales, an important but not well-appreciated filmmaker, and was one of the few African American film producers of his time. He had been a successful theater owner, booking acts from the black vaudeville circuit as well as movies, and the black film industry was still in its infancy when he produced His Great Chance and The Devil’s Match in 1923.
In 1921 North Carolina pioneered the use of motion pictures as an educational tool. Mabel Evans, superintendent of Dare County schools, believed that the story of British efforts to colonize the New World should be told, especially for schoolchildren. The film about The Lost Colony was a hit and started numerous productions aimed to promote state tourism.
The secretaries of the chambers of commerce of Raleigh, Goldsboro, Wilmington, Charlotte, Morganton, Greensboro, and Asheville met in Raleigh in 1934 and launched an effort to encourage filmmaking in the state, primarily aimed at highlighting the natural resources and tourist attractions in the state.
Feature films such as Ruby Gentry (1952), starring Jennifer Jones and Charlton Heston, were also filmed in part in North Carolina during this era. In 1962, with a grant, the North Carolina Film Board was created to produce films about the state and to encourage the production of commercial films in the state. The board was dissolved in June 1965 after producing 19 films, most of which were historical or educational in nature.
North Carolina Becomes Hollywood of the East
The North Carolina Film Office, founded in 1980 by Governor James B. Hunt, was commissioned to help facilitate and provide a base of operation for North Carolina’s burgeoning film industry. Governor Hunt appointed William “Bill” Arnold to lead the office.
In 1984, producer Dino De Laurentiis created De Laurentiis Entertainment Group. He built and based a studio complex, now EUE/Screen Gem, in Wilmington, North Carolina. The area quickly became one of the busiest production centers for film and television east of Hollywood. The North Carolina Film Office was created during a time when new technology, audience demand for location authenticity, and Hollywood’s need for lower production costs were driving filmmakers to search distant sites throughout the United States for fresh places to make movies.
Frank Capra, famed Hollywood director, was scouting locations for his upcoming film Firestarter, which was filmed in 1983. Dino De Laurentiis persuaded Capra to shoot in Wilmington, NC by telling him they could have a full professional studio built. Wilmington’s creative industries were all but dried up, but with the ramping up for this major film, numerous special effects, makeup, and film workers became high in demand.
Under Bill Arnold, the North Carolina Film Commission witnessed a dramatic increase in production during the 1980s and the 1990s. Notable films during this time include The Color Purple (1985), Dirty Dancing (1987), Bull Durham (1988), Days of Thunder (1990), Sleeping with the Enemy (1991), Last of the Mohicans (1992), The Fugitive (1993), and The Crow (1994).
In 1998 Wilmington, NC became the home of the WB’s critically acclaimed television network series Dawson’s Creek. The series remained in Wilmington until 2003 when it was canceled and replaced with One Tree Hill—a series that would highlight life in North Carolina amongst teenagers and ended in 2012 after nine seasons.
In the years following the creation of the NC film Office and construction of the EUE/Screen Gems studio, Wilmington’s TV and film industry boomed. Between 1983 and 2015, 128 different major motion pictures filmed scenes in Wilmington, notably “Iron Man 3” and “The Conjuring.” From 1987 to 2017, 129 different TV series shot scenes in Wilmington locations, including “Dawson’s Creek,” “One Tree Hill” and “Under the Dome.”
It’s All About Taxes
At the turn of the century, the film industry saw production companies transitioning into making films internationally in an effort to keep production costs down. Hoping to bring an international industry back to the United States, many law-makers across the US began creating incentives packages to encourage filming in individual states. North Carolina’s legislature decided on pursuing a competitive incentive program.
On August 8, 2006, the North Carolina Governor created legislation offering productions a full 15% tax credit on a minimum of $250,000 spent in North Carolina but not exceeding a $7.5M credit. Since this program’s inception, the NC Film Office has seen a substantial increase in production, as have other states that have established similar programs. With that tax incentive, the film office recruited a number of big productions including The Guardian (2006), Idlewild (2006), Hounddog (2007), Leatherheads (2008), Nights in Rodanthe (2008), The Secret Life of Bees (2008), The Marc Pease Experience (2008), and Bolden! (2008), The Hunger Games (2011), Safe Haven (2012), We’re The Millers (2012), The Conjuring (2012), Tammy (2013), and Iron Man (2013). The tax credit also enticed a number of television shows to film in the area including Eastbound and Down, One Tree Hill, Homeland, Revenge, Heart of Dixie, Revolution, Sleepy Hollow, The Witches of East End, and Under the Dome.
In January 2015, the Republican majority of the General Assembly replaced the tax credit program with the North Carolina Film and Entertainment Grant, which provides fewer financial incentives to production companies. The grant program carries additional restrictions on the use of grant funds, like a minimum spending qualification — $1 million per episode average for TV series and $5 million for feature-length films — and includes a per-project cap of $9 million for TV series per season and $5 million for feature-length films.
Many production companies have opted to move to states like Georgia, where the incentive programs are more generous and favorable. North Carolina has seen a significant drop in film revenue since this new legislation has taken place. Film spending in North Carolina went from $340 Million in 2012, $253 Million in 2013, and $264 Million in 2014 down to $35 Million in 2016, $99 Million in 2017, $132 Million in 2018, and $76 Million in 2019.
Information gathered from NCPedia.org, FilmNC.com, and MediaHub.UNC.edu
