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Film and television shot/produced in Wilmington, North Carolina, are usually independent and/or low-budget films, mainly due to Wilmington being relatively more affordable than other cities to film in. Other reasons for Wilmington's appeal include its local university (UNCW), its location on the coast, the presence of many historic buildings/sites, and vast swamps and waterways outside of Wilmington.[1] It has remained the largest film and television production area in North Carolina since the 1980s, when the first major productions started to be made in the region.[2]
Producer Dino De Laurentiis first came to Wilmington to film Firestarter in 1984.[3] He would later create De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG), build a studio complex (operated by a subsidiary called the North Carolina Film Corporation[4]), and found its headquarters in Wilmington; the film studio began releasing films in 1986. After it declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1989, most of the company as well as its studio complex in Wilmington was sold to Carolco Pictures.[5] The company would later declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy and the same studio complex was sold to EUE/Screen Gems in 1996.[6][7]
In 2013, Marvel Studios' Iron Man 3 was released to theaters; some places used in the film were the Port of Wilmington, Cape Fear River, and New Hanover Regional Medical Center. It remains the largest film to be shot in Wilmington and North Carolina.[8][9] In the mid- to late-2010s, the city's film industry slowed due to the North Carolina General Assembly not extending pre-2014 film incentives and Governor Pat McCrory signing the controversial House Bill 2 (HB2) in 2017.[10][11] Most of the business went to other major cities, including Atlanta, Georgia, where EUE/Screen Gems also had a studio complex.[12][13][14][15]
Around the early 2020s, after the COVID-19 lockdowns, repeal of HB2, and changes to the state film incentives, filming in the area began to increase again, with 2021 being the industry's biggest year to date, breaking the previous record set in 2012.[11][16][17][18] 2021 was also the biggest year for the whole film industry at large in the state of North Carolina.[18] In 2022, Dark Horse Studios, which became Wilmington's second film studio in 2020, planned a 20 million dollar expansion to their studio complex in Wilmington, set to be complete in 2024.[19][20][21] On September 27, 2023, Cinespace Studios announced it had purchased two EUE/Screen Gems Studios locations in Wilmington and Atlanta.[22]
As of 2020, 138 films and 162 television shows/series have been shot/produced in the city.[3] Wilmington has been many nicknames refencing its film industry, including "Wilmywood" and "Hollywood of the East" or "Hollywood East".[23][24]
