More Filmmakers Are Eyeing NC For Production

Over the past couple of years, North Carolina has been a very popular destination for filmmakers, mainly because of financial incentives the state can offer production companies.

The North Carolina Film Office says so far this year, production resulted in $250 million of direct in-state spending and 25,000 job opportunities for North Carolinians.

Also, as of July 1, more than 35 productions had filed "intent to film" forms indicating that they have filmed or will film in the Tar Heel State.

Rebecca Clark, executive director of the Piedmont Triad Film Commission, says there's a lot of interest being generated in this region.  

“We also have a lot of commercial productions. One of the commercials that you are seeing a lot on TV lately is the FIAT commercial that we helped to recruit and it was filmed at Old Salem. Old Salem is beautiful on film,” says Clark.  She says, “Also, we had a movie called the Ultimate Life that was directed by Michael Landon Jr. and starring Peter Fonda that was filmed in the Triad, so that kind of publicity, you can't really put a price on it.”

Clark says typically when people think about filmmaking in North Carolina, most people automatically think about Wilmington or the coast. That's because the city attracts big films and stars with its high tech studios and stages. But Clark says the Piedmont Triad is now attracting more interest because of its solid crew base and wide variety of locations.

“We have everything from big city looks, which Wilmington cannot offer, but we also have small towns and mountainous regions, beautiful lakes and rivers. Also, Wilmington does have the largest crew base in N.C., but as we continue to attract more and more business to the Piedmont Triad region, our crew base is going to grow and develop and become stronger,” says Clark.

Clark says having a larger crew base could help attract bigger film productions to the Triad. She says one of her goals is to get the area designated by The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, or IATSE.

IATSE is the largest union representing workers in the entertainment industry. She says currently, only Charlotte and Wilmington have this designation in the state.

In the meantime, Clark says she's showing off the Triad to some major film scouts this week.