Lights, camera, action: Film production resumes in NC

RALEIGH, N.C. — Five new film projects are scheduled to start production in North Carolina by the end of October, including two in the Charlotte area, Gov. Roy Cooper announced Tuesday.

The film projects have been approved for N.C. Film and Entertainment Grants, and combined, are projected to generate a direct in-state spend of more than $107 million while creating 8,671 job opportunities, including 650 well-paying crew positions.

“Our state’s film industry continues to welcome new projects from prominent production companies,” Cooper said in a news release. “The industry provides good jobs and opportunities for local businesses while showcasing on a big stage what North Carolina has to offer.”

Production companies receive no money up front and must meet direct in-state spending requirements to qualify for grant funds.

Public health officials helped industry trade associations and alliances to develop protocols to aid in preventing the spread of COVID-19 at filming locations. Each production has a COVID-19 safety plan that provides extra precautions to protect those working in front of and behind the camera.

One of the projects being filmed in and around Charlotte is a new series from Warner Bros. Television for OWN. “Delilah” follows a headstrong, highly principled lawyer who left a demanding law firm a decade ago to raise her children.

“A Nashville Christmas Carol,” a made-for-television movie, will be also be shot in the greater Charlotte area. Like the Charles Dickens classic, “A Christmas Carol,” this movie tells the story of a busy film director and producer who is visited by the Ghosts of Country music past and present.

Another made-for-television movie and a feature-length film will be shot in Wilmington along with the second season of the STARZ series “Hightown.”

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“2019 was a banner year for film and television production in North Carolina and despite some setbacks related to COVID-19, it looks like 2020 will also be a great year for the state’s industry,” added North Carolina Film Office director Guy Gaster.

In addition to the newest film projects to be approved for funding, production will continue on the reality series “My Big, Fat, Fabulous Life” and “Love It Or List It” in the Piedmont Triad and Triangle regions respectively. Two other Piedmont Triad-based projects recently wrapped production: the SAG-signatory feature “Where’s Rose” and the new docu-series “Secrets of the Zoo: North Carolina.”

Cox Media Group