Wilmington has some of the best crew people you can find. This is our bread and butter. A sleepy coastal town, Wilmington was once home to Dino de Laurentiis, who set up shop with Carolco Studios in 1983 to produce Firestarter. It remains the largest film studio on the East Coast. Just recently, Carolco, which was rented out for film projects while in bankruptcy for two years, was auctioned off to the highest bidder.
Word seems to be spreading rapidly about the benefits of working in Wilmington.
Stricklin, who until recently ran the Film Commission singlehandedly, says the office gets hundreds of scripts each year. Judy Cairo, executive producer of Her Deadly Rival , a TV movie produced in Wilmington, hopes to produce more projects in Wilmington. I'm not tied to a particular location. There's a fabulous crew base, and we have a comfort level because of the amount of production being done there. We know people have had good results.