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GREATER WILMINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL | BOX OFFICE SALES UP 33 PERCENT AT CUCALORUS
By Business Journal staff
December 2, 2009
Despite not having the full use of Thalian Hall and with events scattered across the city, Cucalorus reports a large increase in box office sales for their recent film festival. According to a press release from Cucalorus, their box office sales were up 33 percent over last year.
“It shows two things: It shows that, even in tough times, when it gets harder to put on a good festival, the people who are good at it truly shine and people recognize that. It’s clearly much harder to put on (a) festival in 2009 than it was in 2008,” said Dan Brawley, director of Cucalorus.
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WILMINGTON STAR-NEWS | HORROR FILM DIRECTOR BACK IN PORT CITY FOR CUCALORUS
By Amy Hotz
November 10, 2009
In April of 2007, I drove out to Williston Middle School and walked onto the set of “Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever.”
The school auditorium was covered in sheets of plastic that were splattered, liberally, with fake blood. Scenes filmed that day involved a cleft-lipped teacher getting sprayed with blood by special effects workers and equally blood-soaked teenagers piling on the floor of their high school prom.
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WILMINGTON STAR-NEWS | LOCAL FILMMAKERS TO SCREEN 22 SHORTS, 4 FEATURES AT CUCALORUS
By Amy Hotz
November 10, 2009
This city didn't get the nickname “Hollywood East” because we eat a lot of health food or enjoy dressing up small dogs.
Wilmington is home to a vibrant community of filmmakers, from camera operators and set decorators to script writers and actors. And in addition to landing jobs on the big commercial features that might open offices at EUE/Screen Gems or elsewhere, they also create their own productions.
Since the beginning, the Cucalorus Film Festival has been a way for local filmmakers to get their projects in front of an audience.
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WILMINGTON STAR-NEWS | CUCALORUS PICKS - FESTIVAL HAS SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
By John Staton
November 10, 2009
Some people might think the Cucalorus Film Festival, which got under way for the 15th time on Nov. 11, is an exclusive event, a gift, if you will, for film-heads.
In reality, however, there is a little bit of something for all tastes. You don't draw 10,000 people to an event, like Cucalorus did last year, without a little diversity.
With that in mind, here's a gift-guide-style look at some of the films in Cucalorus this year, and who they might appeal to.
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WILMINGTON STAR-NEWS | EXTRAS NEEDED FOR ‘ONE TREE HILL' FILMING
By Amy Hotz
November 4, 2009
Fincannon & Associates is accepting applications for background actors, or extras, for an episode of "One Tree Hill" to be filmed Nov. 10 and 11. There will be several larger scenes coming up and the company is looking for fresh faces.
"One Tree Hill" is a filmed-in-Wilmington drama that airs on  Mondays at 8 p.m.
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WILMINGTON STAR-NEWS | IN ITS 15TH YEAR, CUCALORUS GEARS MORE FILMS, VENUES TOWARD LOCAL COMMUNITY
By Amy Hotz
November 3, 2009
The Cucalorus offices at Jengo's Playhouse were so busy, Dan Brawley suggested the reporters step out to the backyard for an interview.
Sunshine warmed the skin while a cool October breeze promised sweater weather. It was the perfect time, Brawley thought, to let his chicken out to stretch her legs a bit.
Brawley, the director of Cucalorus, is celebrating the independent film festival's 15th year in a pretty laid back manner, mostly by screening a few more narrative features than in previous years, he said. During the Nov. 11-15 festival, moviegoers will get to choose from 29 narratives, including a romantic comedy about a talentless baseball player ("Calvin Marshall") and a drama about a farmer who is betrayed by his son and loses the homestead ("That Evening Sun").
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VARIETY | PROS PICK BEST PLACES FOR FILMMAKING
By Iain Blair
October 23, 2009
Variety recently conducted an online poll among several hundred location managers, unit production managers, cinematographers, directors and assistant directors asking them to rate their favorite locations according to visual appeal, incentives, film-office support, production resources, and ability to substitute for another location.
The top five North American locations and the top five international locations, ranked here by overall excellence, are regions or cities that scored high on most or all of the criteria. Following these top 10 locations is a list of places cited by the polled pros for excelling in specific categories.
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GREATER WILMINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL | VASSAR: TAX INCENTIVES TO BEAR FRUIT IN 2010
By Ken Little
October 16, 2009
The recently passed state incentives package for filmmakers will pave the way for an influx of movie and TV productions in 2010, said Bill Vassar, EUE Screen Gems Studios vice president.
The law provides a 25 percent tax credit for film projects in North Carolina, up from the previous credit of 15 percent. It takes effect Jan. 1.
“We’ve got holds on facilities and we’re bidding jobs at a rate we haven’t seen in a long time,” Vassar said. “I would say we’re going to be busy again.”
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GREATER WILMINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL | A LOCAL MASTER OF SPECIAL EFFECTS
By Ken Little
October 16, 2009
Third-generation special effects man David Beavis has set down firm roots in Wilmington.
Including his son in the United Kingdom, there are now four generations of the Beavis family who have served the film industry in that highly specialized occupation.
The London native operates his business, Carolina Effects, out of rented space at EUE Screen Gems Studios and considers himself an adopted North Carolinian. Beavis has traveled the world and worked with big-name stars and music icons like the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and The Who.
But at 57, he would like to spend more time in the Carolina Effects workshop. With the added opportunities Beavis anticipates resulting from the recently adopted 25 percent state tax credit for filmmakers, coupled with the new technologically advanced Stage 10 on the studio lot, that should be possible.
Before departing earlier this month for Savannah, Ga., with other Wilmington-based film crew members working on the Robert Redford-directed feature film “The Conspirator,” Beavis shared perspectives on his craft, changes in the industry and what makes movies tick.
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LOS ANGELES TIMES | 'ONE TREE HILL'S' STRONG ROOTS
By Denise Martin
October 5, 2009
It's the CW's dirty little secret: In its seventh season, "One Tree Hill" is watched by more people than the network's "it" show, "Gossip Girl." It always has been.
The success, hushed though it has been, has come despite major upheavals to the show, a sort of earnest older sister to younger, hipper series such as "90210" and "Gossip." Since launching in 2003, "One Tree Hill" has occupied five time slots, switched networks and survived a risky plot decision to jump its high school-age characters four years into the future.
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GREATER WILMINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL | FILM GROUP FINISHING PRODUCTION GUIDE 2010
By Ken Little
October 2, 2009
About 650 crew members who work on regional film productions live in or near Wilmington. Another 100 or so local vendors tend to the needs of actors, crew and others employed on local sets.
Most will be listed in the 2010 Production Guide being prepared by the Wilmington Regional Film Commission.
The free guide features support services, crew, location and general area information. It’s provided to potential movie, television series and commercial producers who are considering shooting in the area.
The deadline for vendor advertising in the support services section of the film guide is Oct. 16. It’s a valuable tool for producers considering locating in a particular area, Film Commission Director Johnny Griffin said.
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VARIETY | CW GIVES FULL-SEASON ORDER TO 'TREE'
By Michael Schneider
September 23, 2009
The CW has given a full-season order to veteran drama "One Tree Hill," and has also ordered additional scripts for frosh entries "The Vampire Diaries" and "Melrose Place."
The netlet had ordered just 13 episodes of "One Tree Hill" this season, but the early pickup now secures the show a full seventh season.
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NORTH CAROLINA OFFICE OF GOVERNOR BEV PERDUE | GOV. PERDUE SIGNS FILM INCENTIVE BILL
Raleigh
August 27, 2009
SB 943 Boosts Film Production Tax Credit to 25 Percent, Protects Jobs for North Carolinians.
Official Press Release
More news on increased NC Film Incentive:
Variety | N. Carolina boosts prod'n tax incentive
CNBC | NC governor signs film credit bill from lawmakers
News14 | Perdue signs bill increasing tax credit for film industry
StarNewsOnline | Gov. Perdue signs NC film incentive bill
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VARIETY | NORTH CAROLINA SENATE BOOSTS FILM INCENTIVES
By Peter Caranicas
August 7, 2009
North Carolina is poised to up the ante in the competition for film production, after its state senate passed legislation boosting its refundable tax credit to filmmakers from 15% to 25%.
Under the terms of the bill, any film, TV show or commercial that spends a minimum of $250,000 on North Carolina goods, services and salaries would qualify. Above- and below-the-line expenditures are covered. The legislation would make North Carolina more competitive with such nearby states as South Carolina and Georgia, which offer breaks of up to 30%.
Gov. Beverly Perdue has 10 days to sign the bill.
“Chances are good that she will,” says North Carolina Film Office director Aaron Syrett. “She pushed hard to get this done.”
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MOVIEMAKER | 25 COOLEST FILM FESTIVALS: 2009
By Jennifer M. Wood
July 31, 2009
Depending on the era in which one grew up, what is “cool” can be a very different thing. But whether you watched James Dean on the big screen, were introduced to cinema through Quentin Tarantino or believe that great movies begin and end with Michael Bay, “cool” cinema takes us beyond the expected, captures the zeitgeist and changes the way we view the films that come along for us afterward.
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THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER | MADE IN NORTH CAROLINA
By Todd Longwell
July 29, 2009
 Chris Cooney had to make a move.
After a busy 2007, during which the nine EUE/Screen Gems soundstages in Wilmington, N.C., buzzed with up to 700 people a day working on such films as "Nights in Rodanthe" and "The Secret Life of Bees" and the CW series "One Tree Hill," Cooney, president and COO of EUE/Screen Gems, had decided to go forward with plans to build a 10th soundstage dubbed Dream Stage 10, a $15 million state-of-the-art facility featuring 37,500 square feet of column-free space, along with a 10.5-foot-deep, 186,000-gallon water tank.
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NORTH CAROLINA OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE | ONE TREE HILL BECOMES STATE’S LONGEST RUNNING SERIES
Raleigh
February 26, 2009
TV Show Has Generated More than $135 Million for State’s Economy
Official Press Release
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THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES IN THEATRES OCTOBER 17, 2008 (NOW on DVD AND BLU-RAY)
Set in South Carolina in 1964, the film is the moving tale of Lily Owens a 14 year-old girl who is haunted by the memory of her late mother. To escape her lonely life and troubled relationship with her father, Lily flees with Rosaleen, her caregiver and only friend, to a South Carolina town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by the intelligent and independent Boatwright sisters, Lily finds solace in their mesmerizing world of beekeeping, honey and the Black Madonna. Written by Fox Searchlight.
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VARIETY | 'HILL' FINDS ITS HOME IN WILMINGTON, N.C.
By Betsy Boyd
March 17, 2008
 When it came time to shoot the first season of "One Tree Hill," WB execs thought they'd follow the small-town location formula that had saved big bucks on "Dawson's Creek." So, they contacted the Wilmington (N.C.) Regional Film Commission, negotiated a personalized incentive package, and relocated down South.
"But once we got into it," notes "Hill" exec producer Joe Davola, "the advantages were much more than financial."
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