Three new film and television projects receiving financial support from the state are expected to create 4,900 jobs for North Carolinians in the coming months, Gov. Josh Stein said Friday.
The state’s film grant program has agreed to pay the projects up to $28.4 million in exchange for filming in North Carolina, if they meet production goals. In order to get the full amount of funding, the film projects would be expected to spend at least a combined $113 million in North Carolina, including hiring 4,900 people for the film crews and other work.
“North Carolina remains a top state for film, and these grants enable us to continue our strong tradition of TV and film production excellence,” Stein wrote in a statement.
The state’s decades-long history of luring film projects here with incentives has landed movie and TV productions including “The Hunger Games,” “The Fugitive,” “Last of the Mohicans,” “Bull Durham,” “Dirty Dancing,” “Dawson’s Creek” and “One Tree Hill.”
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Controversy over the 2016 law limiting transgender rights, commonly called HB2, caused many studios and production companies to boycott North Carolina in protest. But since that law was partially repealed, the state’s film industry has been bouncing back in recent years, particularly after the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic to the film industry.
The three new grants Stein announced Friday are going to:
- Season 2 of television/streaming series “The Hunting Wives,” approved for an award of up to $15 million, with filming currently underway in and around Lake Norman and the Greater Charlotte metro area.
- The first season of the new series “RJ Decker,” also currently underway, approved for an award of up to $11.6 million, with filming taking place in New Hanover County.
- The independent thriller “Widow,” approved for an award of up to $1.8 million, recently completed filming in Davidson, Forsyth, Stokes and Yadkin counties.
Other series, including new seasons of Amazon Prime Video’s “The Season I Turned Pretty” and “The Runarounds,” were also filmed recently in North Carolina after receiving previous rounds of grant funding.
“Film production is all about jobs in North Carolina, and thanks to the work of the NC Film Office and the Department of Commerce, we’re supporting film jobs statewide,” North Carolina Commerce Secretary Lee Lilley wrote in a statement.“These productions bring direct economic benefits and also raise the state’s visibility among audiences, leading to increased tourist activity and visitor spending over time.”
