Film industry shutdown's economic impact in Wilmington to likely cause 'spillover effects'

John Staton, Wilmington StarNews
·4 min read

Wilmington has been all over the streaming services this summer, with locally shot productions like Amazon Prime series "The Summer I Turned Pretty" and Paramount+ movie "Zoey 102" being seen by millions of viewers.

On the streets of the Port City, however, things have been much quieter.

Since mid-May, film and TV production has been shut down in Wilmington, and in most of the country, due to ongoing strikes by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). Both unions are seeking better pay for their members, in addition to other demands.

And while the WGA recently returned to negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents production companies, an end to the strikes appears to be nowhere in sight.

"When an industry goes out of business or shuts down temporarily, it really affects people," said Dr. Mouhcine Guettabi, an associate professor of economics and fiance at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. "Removing this economic engine in an area that's relatively small, you're going to feel it."

Referencing the Wilmington-shot hit show "The Summer I Turned Pretty," a sign displayed at a Saturday rally in support of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike reads "The Summer We Ended Corporate Greed."
Referencing the Wilmington-shot hit show "The Summer I Turned Pretty," a sign displayed at a Saturday rally in support of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike reads "The Summer We Ended Corporate Greed."

Guettabi noted that there has not been a detailed study of the film industry's economic impact on Wilmington. Speaking generally, however, with local film crews out of work and productions not spending money in the area, he said the shutdown is likely to have "spillover effects" for businesses like bars, restaurants, hotels and retail stores.

Jon Landau, a Wilmington filmmaker who has also worked as a crew member on such locally shot productions as "Appendage," "One True Loves" and "The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat," said the shutdown has some film industry workers he's talked to wondering if they need to find new careers.

"You've got A-list crew, the first people who get called when any show comes to town, and some of them are working in restaurants," Landau said.

Shaun O'Rourke has worked crew jobs on many TV shows and movies filmed in Wilmington, including "The Summer I Turned Pretty," "Welcome to Flatch" and "Reprisal."

And while he emphasizes that that he supports the goals of both the writers' and actors' unions, when it comes to film crews, "Lots of us are struggling," O'Rourke said. "We have all taken lesser jobs. I went from making $100K per year to only making $12K so far this year."

Jennifer Lea Long, who has worked in the art department of such Wilmington-and North Carolina-shot productions as "Iron Man 3," "The Black Phone" and "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret," said she's in a similar situation, "and that includes the unemployment that ran out a month ago."

The downturn comes on the heels of a record year for the film industry in 2021 that saw in excess of $416 million spent in North Carolina, most of it in Wilmington. In 2022, a healthy $258 million was spent in the state.

This year started slowly even before the shutdown, with the industry taking a wait-and-see approach and putting some productions on hold even before the strikes began.

Kirk Englebright, Founder and CEO, Dark Horse Studios talks to the crowd that came out as Dark Horse Studios held a ceremonial groundbreaking event on a massive expansion that will feature the first purpose-built studio North Carolina has seen in more than 40 years. The expansion will double the size of Dark Horse Studios and enable it to accommodate twice as many productions annually. Dark Horse Studios was founded in 2020. KEN BLEVINS/STARNEWS

Wilmywood? Or Filmington? As strikes drag on, Wilmington's independent filmmakers see opportunities

The only major productions this year in Wilmington have been "Zoey 102," which shot in January and February, and the "Untitled Josh and Lauren Project," a limited series from Warner Bros. and Ava DuVernay's Array production company starring Joshua Jackson and Lauren Ridloff. It shut down in the middle of filming in May.

Some scenes for hit Netflix show "Outer Banks" were supposed to be filmed here as well, but "Outer Banks" shut down after SAG went on strike.

Over the course of Wilmington's 40 years as hub for film and TV productions, the industry has seen a number of downturns. The '90s saw so-called "runaway production" to Canada and there was an extended lull in the mid-to-late 2010s after the North Carolina General Assembly allowed the old film incentive to expire. That situation exacerbated by the legislature's passage of the so-called "bathroom bill," which caused some productions, like "Outer Banks," to shoot in other states, including Georgia, whose film industry now dwarfs North Carolina's.

Still, film has always come back to Wilmington in the past so it seems likely that it will again, though no one knows quite when.

Kirk Englebright, founder and CEO of Wilmington's independent Dark Horse Studios, just announced a major expansion that will double Dark Horse's capacity, and he's bullish on the future of film in Wilmington.

Guettabi said it remains to be seen if the shutdown "is removing money from our economy or just shifting it around. If (projects are) just getting pushed down the road, six months from now we may have a boom."

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Film industry strikes impacting Wilmington NC economy