What makes Wilmington into Wilmywood?

It doesn't take very many reads of my blog to learn that I love Wilmington. I love the river walk downtown and I love Wrightsville Beach and I love to eat at The Oceanic and drink at Goodfellas. There are good people here, beautiful homes, and fantastic weather. Nonetheless, the reason why Mike St. James & I moved here is the film industry. I've heard Wilmington, NC lovingly called Little Hollywood, Hollywood East, and my own favorite, Wilmywood. But why does Wilmington have this reputation?

Little known fact: according to the International Association of Film Commissioners, more movies, TV shows, and commercials are filmed in Wilmington than anywhere in the US, outside of LA & NYC. Odds are in any given week, you see something that was filmed in this beautiful antebellum corner of the south without even knowing it. One of our claims to fame is the motion picture studio EUE/Screen Gems. And the production company Inspire Productions is located here. It all started with Firestarter, starring Drew Barrymore in 1984 and this town has embraced the filmmaking community ever since.

So what are some of these shows & films featuring Wilmington as a backdrop? I can't give you an exhaustive list of the hundreds of films created in Wilmington, but I give you a taste. The TV shows Dawson's Creek, One Tree Hill, and Wittaker Bay for starters (not to mention some good old episodes of Matlock). Of the many movies that were filmed here you're probably familiar with Forrest Gump, Divine Secrests of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, A Walk to Remember, The Crow, Black Knight, 28 Days, Cape Fear, Empire Records, Blue Velvet, Sleeping with the Enemy, Waking Ned Divine, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and even parts of Pirates of the Carribbean: At World's End was filmed right here in cozy Wilmington.

Some of my old favorites like Dream a Little Dream (the Coreys!), Weekend at Burnies, and Muppets from Space were filmed here.

We can lay claim to Message in a Bottle and Lolita, as well as the werewolf classic Silver Bullet (Corey again!).

Local casting was done by one of our local casting directors for movies such as Deja Vu, No Country for Old Men, the Great Debaters, and the upcoming Leatherheads.

More films that will be in theaters soon and were filmed in Wilmington are The Secret Life of Bees, The Marc Pease Experience, and Bolden (just to name a few).

Filmmakers here have the best of both worlds. They have great talent on hand. They have impressive studios at their disposal. And they have a friendly, easygoing, breezy atmosphere in which to work. Wilmingtonians are used to having streets blocked off for filming. We don't mind. And how many days a week do you see the tell-tale "Crew -->" signs lining Market St or Eastwood Blvd? The entertainment industry has become part of our culture here, part of our vernacular. On the one hand we're very proud of this industry. On the other, you're not likely to see a native pulling out his cell phone to snap a picture of a One Tree Hill star. If you see that, you know she's a tourist. *bless*