Editing Wilmington, North Carolina (section)

===Film and television series===
[[File:EUE-Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington, North Carolina 3 (cropped).jpg|thumb|EUE/Screen Gems Studios (now Cinespace Wilmington) in November 2022]]
[[File:Wilmington, NC City Hall IMG 4364.JPG|thumb|Wilmington City Hall, with movie crews filming in July 2012]]
{{Main|Films and television shows produced in Wilmington, North Carolina}}
Wilmington is home to [[Cinespace Film Studios|Cinespace Wilmington]]. The city's prominent place in cinema throughout the 1980s and 1990s earned the city the moniker "Hollywood East". Popular television series like<ref name="ILMTelevison">{{Cite web |title=Television Filmed in Wilmington, NC |url=https://www.wilmingtonfilm.com/television/ |access-date=May 11, 2024 |website=Wilmington Regional Film Commission}}</ref> ''[[Matlock (1986 TV series)|Matlock]]'' (1986–1995), ''[[Dawson's Creek]]'' (1998–2003), ''[[One Tree Hill (TV series)|One Tree Hill]]'' (2003–2012), ''[[Eastbound & Down]]'' (2009–2013), ''[[Sleepy Hollow (TV series)|Sleepy Hollow]]'' (2013–2017), ''[[Under the Dome (TV series)|Under the Dome]]'' (2013–2015), ''[[Outer Banks (TV series)|Outer Banks]]'' (2020–present),<ref name="OBXPortCityDaily">{{Cite web |last=Carver |first=Shea |date=June 9, 2023 |title=Netflix's season 4 of 'Outer Banks' to film this summer in greater Wilmington area |url=https://portcitydaily.com/arts-and-culture/2023/06/09/netflixs-season-4-of-outer-banks-to-film-this-summer-in-greater-wilmington-area/ |access-date=February 11, 2024 |website=Port City Daily |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="OBXWECT">{{Cite web |author1=WECT Staff |last2=Crooms |first2=Reyna |date=November 16, 2023 |title=Season four of 'Outer Banks' to begin production in Wrightsville Beach |url=https://www.wect.com/2023/11/16/season-four-outer-banks-begin-production-wrightsville-beach/ |access-date=February 11, 2024 |website=WECT |language=en}}</ref> and ''[[The Summer I Turned Pretty (TV series)|The Summer I Turned Pretty]]'' (2022–present) were partially or fully filmed at the studio complex and on location throughout the city. Movies partially or fully shot in or near Wilmington include<ref name="ILMFilm">{{Cite web |title=Movies Filmed in Wilmington, NC |url=https://www.wilmingtonfilm.com/feature-film/ |access-date=May 11, 2024 |website=Wilmington Regional Film Commission}}</ref> ''[[Firestarter (1984 film)|Firestarter]]'' (1984), ''[[Blue Velvet (film)|Blue Velvet]]'' (1986), ''[[Maximum Overdrive]]'' (1986), ''[[Weekend at Bernie's]]'' (1989), ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990 film)|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' (1990), ''[[Super Mario Bros. (film)|Super Mario Bros.]]'' (1993), ''[[Radioland Murders]]'' (1994), ''[[The Crow (1994 film)|The Crow]]'' (1994),<ref>Barth, Jack (1991)</ref> ''[[I Know What You Did Last Summer]]'' (1997), ''[[The Conjuring]]'' (2013), ''[[Iron Man 3]]'' (2013), ''[[Safe Haven (film)|Safe Haven]]'' (2013), ''[[We're the Millers]]'' (2013),<ref>''Roadside Hollywood: The Movie Lover's State-By-State Guide to Film Locations, Celebrity Hangouts, Celluloid Tourist Attractions, and More''. Contemporary Books. Pages 173–175. {{ISBN|9780809243266}}.</ref> ''[[The Black Phone]]'' (2021), ''[[Halloween Kills]]'' (2021), and ''[[Scream (2022 film)|Scream]]'' (2022). Actor [[Brandon Lee]] was killed after an accidental shooting during the filming of ''The Crow''.<ref>{{cite web | title=The brief life and unnecessary death of Brandon Lee | website=EW.com | date=April 16, 1993 | url=https://ew.com/article/1993/04/16/brief-life-and-unnecessary-death-brandon-lee/ | access-date=July 15, 2020}}</ref>

Since 1995, Wilmington hosts an annual, nationally recognized, independent film festival called "[[Cucalorus Film Festival|Cucalorus]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cucalorus.org |title=Annual Festival of Independent Film |publisher=Cucalorus |access-date=May 21, 2013}}</ref> It is the keystone event of The Cucalorus Film Foundation, a non-profit organization. The Foundation also sponsors weekly screenings, several short documentary projects, and the annual Kids Festival, with hands on film-making workshops.

The Cape Fear Independent Film Network also hosts a film festival annually, and the Wilmington Jewish Film Festival also takes place yearly.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wilmingtonjff.org/history/|title=History of the WJFF|website=Wilmington Jewish Film Festival|language=en-US|access-date=March 19, 2019|archive-date=October 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181022014334/http://www.wilmingtonjff.org/history/|url-status=dead}}</ref> For several years Wilmington was also the location of fan conventions for [[One Tree Hill (TV series)|One Tree Hill]], reuniting the cast and drawing tourists to the city.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.starnewsonline.com/news/20181205/eyecons-one-tree-hill-reunion-conventions-to-end|title=EyeCon's 'One Tree Hill' reunion conventions to end|author=Hunter Ingram StarNews Staff|website=Wilmington Star-News|language=en|access-date=March 19, 2019}}</ref>

In 2014, Governor [[Pat McCrory]] decided not to renew the film incentives, which ended up taking a massive toll on not just Wilmington's but North Carolina's entire film industry.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-onlocation-north-carolina-20140827-story.html |title=North Carolina cutting film tax credit program |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=August 27, 2014 |access-date=May 29, 2018}}</ref> As a result, most productions and film businesses moved to other cities, especially to [[Atlanta, Georgia]]. For the years following, were many attempts to bring the industry back to North Carolina via the North Carolina Film and Entertainment Grant. This grant designates $31 million per fiscal year (Jul 1 – Jun 30) in film incentives.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.filmnc.com/25-rebate.html |title=Film Incentives |publisher=North Carolina Film Office |access-date=May 29, 2018}}</ref>

In the early 2020s, after the [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United States|COVID-19 lockdowns]] and changes to state legislation, filming in the city began to increase again, with 2021 being the biggest year to date for both the city's film industry as well as the whole film industry at large in North Carolina.<ref name=":22">{{Cite web |last=Dean |first=Korie |date=August 22, 2022 |title=From talkies to tax credits: A timeline of the film industry in North Carolina |url=https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article259199313.html |access-date=January 14, 2024 |website=The News & Observer}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Woods |first=Kiley |date=January 14, 2021 |title=Wilmington's film industry makes a comeback after COVID-19 lockdown |url=https://theseahawk.org/30117/culture/wilmingtons-film-industry-makes-a-comeback-after-covid-19-lockdown/ |access-date=May 28, 2023 |website=The Seahawk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=TOP STORIES: Biggest year ever for film industry |url=http://www.wilmingtonbiz.com/film/2021/12/17/top_stories_biggest_year_ever_for_film_industry/22681 |access-date=June 3, 2022 |website=WilmingtonBiz}}</ref><ref name=":32">{{Cite web |last=Cosgrove |first=Elly |date=December 31, 2021 |title=Wilmington's film industry enjoys record-breaking year |url=https://www.wect.com/2021/12/31/wilmingtons-film-industry-enjoys-record-breaking-year/ |access-date=January 20, 2024 |website=WECT |language=en}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About Dark Horse |url=https://darkhorsestudios.com/about/ |access-date=January 14, 2024 |website=darkhorsestudios.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=More space to film: Dark Horse Studios plans $20M expansion |url=http://www.wilmingtonbiz.com/film/2022/12/05/more_space_to_film_dark_horse_studios_plans_20m_expansion/23940 |access-date=December 8, 2022 |website=WilmingtonBiz}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=WECT Staff |date=August 3, 2023 |title=Dark Horse Studios holds groundbreaking ceremony for two new sound stages |url=https://www.wect.com/2023/08/03/dark-horse-studios-holds-groundbreaking-ceremony-two-new-sound-stages/ |access-date=January 14, 2024 |website=WECT |language=en}}</ref>

On September 27, 2023, Cinespace Studios announced it had purchased the [[EUE/Screen Gems|EUE/Screen Gems Studios]] location in Wilmington.<ref name="Cinespace Studios">{{Cite web |last=WECT Staff |date=September 27, 2023 |title=Cinespace Studios buys EUE/Screen Gems studio in Wilmington |url=https://www.wect.com/2023/09/27/cinespace-studios-buys-wilmington-euescreen-gems-studio/ |access-date=September 28, 2023 |website=WECT |language=en}}</ref>