Grants Spur Renewed Interest In N.C Film Industry

Things are looking up for North Carolina's film industry. An updated grant program has Hollywood taking notice.

The North Carolina Film And Entertainment Grant Program is funded at $30 million. The grants replace the former refundable tax credits, which the state ended in 2014. Those credits were double that amount.

The local film industry suffered a blow when the tax credit program expired.

But Wilmington Regional Film Commission director Johnny Griffin says the state is seeing a rebound now that the grant program has been established.

Griffin tells WilmingonBiz.com that the lower-incentive grants may not appeal to big budget films and long-running TV series.

But Griffin says producers of shorter series and smaller films are once again putting North Carolina on their short list for possible filming sites.