Movie Filmed In Local Town Debuts

SHELBY, N.C.,None — Friday was a big box office day for Shelby.

A movie that was filmed downtown there debuted across the country.

The movie, titled "Blood Done Sign My Name" features some familiar faces, including actor Rick Schroeder. It's based on Duke University professor Tim Tyson's personal experiences and depicts a racial incident and the events that followed in Oxford in 1970.

It was produced and directed by Gastonia native Jeb Stuart, of "The Fugitive" and "Die Hard" fame. The movie was filmed in Shelby and the Cleveland County area in 2008.

Many town residents are excited about the movie's debut, and Evan Amay is one of them. Amay's classic cars are in the movie.

"I think it will be great," Amay said. "It will certainly help the economy around here, which has definitely been slow."

For six weeks during the summer of 2008, there were 150 people working on the movie, eating at area restaurants, shopping at local stores and staying in Shelby hotels.

While that may not be a large number for some areas, it's significant in a county where unemployment has topped 15 percent.

Shelby had become known for its empty factories, but Friday, town residents hope people will see it in a different light.

Travel and Tourism Director Jackie Sibley hopes other filmmakers will see potential in Shelby.

"We are kind of a small town," Sibley said. "We are easy to work with. So we hope the future of filmmaking in North Carolina will include Shelby."

Sibley noted that Cleveland County has a downtown that could be used in period pieces, a university and lots of rural communities.

"We have a lot of diversity in what we have to offer in filmmaking," she said.

Sibley added that her idea isn't too far-fetched, because only California and New York produce more films than North Carolina.

WSOC