Gov. Roy Cooper’s budget doesn’t have everyone excited about film

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Gov. Roy Cooper wants to revive a tax incentive for film and TV productions. But even though some see this as a step forward, not everyone is sees it that way. Those in film industry say they are still hesitant to get excited.

Wilmington was once known as Hollywood East when blockbusters like “Iron Man 3” filmed here. But crew members say business started to fall off once the film incentive program was overhauled in 2015.

“Right now there’s really no other opportunity here until something comes back,” Nathan Gray, who has worked in the film industry since the 1990’s, said.

The new incentive plan proposed by Governor Cooper, offers $9 million for each television show, $12 million for each feature film, and money for commercials. While that sounds promising to some over the $30 million capped grant program, not everyone feels the same.

“Until it gets passed through the legislature, it’s just words on a piece of paper,” Stephan Bax, another worker in the industry, said.

Both Gray and Bax say that they are concerned that the proposal won’t get passed through. If it doesn’t, they worry the major productions will never return.

“Fool me once shame on them, fool me twice shame on me,” Bax said. “Producers don’t want to be fooled a third and fourth time. They’re going to come to the place that gives them the best deal. So if we don’t have them they’re not going to come here.”

Having those big dollar films and shows in the area made this small town be renamed as Wilmywood during that time. But Gray says if the proposal is not passed, it hurts everyone.

“It’s dumb not to recognize what the benefit was,” Gray said. “There’s a lot of people in town that can tell you that they are affected that it’s no longer here.”

If this proposal is indeed passed through, it would go into effect next January.