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| CREDIT: YouTube Many residents of Wilmington, North Carolina saw dozens of Santas walking down the streets on August 25th. To allow things to make sense, it has been reported the snow was fake and the men in Santa suits are working on an upcoming TV film Christmas in Harmony which is scheduled to appear on the Hallmark Channel later this year. This year has been record-setting for the film industry in North Carolina. There is an expectant $409 million to be sent in the state this year, and there has been $300 million spent so far in Wilmington. Along with Christman in Harmony, the Hallmark Movies & Mystery film One Summer wrapped filming earlier last month and is scheduled to air on September 26th. Other films that have been filmed in Wilmington are USS Christmas, which was shot last year, and Line Sisters was shot during this year's American summer. It is clear that Hallmark movies are a staple for this local area. Johnny Griffin, director of the Wilmington Regional Film Commission has said, "We'll take these, along with the features and the TV series. Like a lot of companies, once they come and experience filming in Wilmington, they want to come back." Other projects that are currently filming in Wilmington are Netflix's Florida Man, FOX TV's Our Kind of People and Amazon's The Summer I Turned Pretty. The two major projects that were filmed earlier this year are Halloween Kills which is scheduled to be released on October 15th, and the latest Scream film which is set to be released on January 14th. Griffin has reported that TV films play a crucial part in Wilmington's film industry. "We used to do 20 or 25 of these a year back in the 90s."They're pretty quick, easy and simple." He also noted that some of the classic Hallmark movies that have been shot in Wilmington include What the Deaf Man Heard (1997) and Christmas is Conway (2013). TV films such as the above, take roughly three weeks to shoot, and spend less than big-budget features or long-running TV series. Executive vice president of Wilmington's EUE/Screen Gems Studios, Bill Vassar has said these movies are good to have because "it helps to keep the crews working. We're happy they're here." These "small budget shows" are valuable for training young crew members. The company is dedicated to short 11-12 hour days and are beginning to diversify. Their films are also location heavy, which is good promotion for the Wilmington area. The productions have also donated around $10,000 to The Old Baldy Foundation for being able to shoot inside and outside the lighthouse managed and preserved by the foundation. Although Hallmark movies aren't considered critically acclaimed and used a wrap-to-air time of weeks instead of months, they are definitely popular. In the fourth quarter of 2020, the Hallmark Channel became the most-watched entertainment cable network among women aged 18 and over for the seventh consecutive year. Their viewership is highly attributed to Christmas-heavy programming. When you do Hallmark, it's all about love. About happiness. I'd rather do that than something that reminds me of the news." |
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