Wilmington is commonly known as “Hollywood East” because it is home to EUE Screen Gems Studios, the largest TV and movie production facility outside of California. Movies filmed here include, A Walk to Remember, Weekend at Bernie’s, and Nights in Rodanthe, just to name a few. The television series shot in Wilmington, Matlock, Dawson’s Creek, and most recently, One Tree Hill have been very successful.
So when Disney contacted Nicholas Sparks about working their magic on his book, The Last Song, there was no doubt that the film would be shot in Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach, where the book is plotted. Wilmingtonians were gearing up for the new movie and practicing their Hoedown Throwdown to welcome Miley Cyrus with bells on, when Sparks agreed to have the movie filmed in Tybee, GA. Sparks says it fit the book better because it was less commercial than the Wrightsville Beach he wrote about 20 years ago. Members of the cast agree and enjoyed working in Georgia.
Home state fans of Sparks remained loyal when the movie premiered in Wilmington last night at 7:30. Dry eyes and the disappointed were few and far between. Hopefully The Last Song was not Wilmington’s last movie moment opportunity, or we may be seeing less dry eyes and fewer celebrity encounters in this town.
The Last Song to be the Last Chance?
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10 responses to “The Last Song to be the Last Chance?”
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I find it interesting that Sparks, an avid North Carolinian, would so readily agree to filming the movie in Georgia. He is lucky in this sense because it seems the fans of his home state have chosen to ignore the missed opportunity for economic growth and prosperity a film crew would have brought to the port city. Sparks had better be careful about future incidents like this one, however. Any marketer knows that alienating a large group of once-loyal fans paves a path for certain failure.
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I read the book and was very disappointed when hearing that the Movie would be shot in Georgia, let alone having the story set there as well. I saw the movie recently and was just as disappointed that the setting was changed.
When reading the Nicholas Sparks Book, “The Last Song”, I was intrigued by all of the detail he put into the setting; like the cape fear river, Wrightsville beach pier and other North Carolina scenery. Of course, I could be bias, being a student here and incorporating my own experiences in this town to his fictional scenes, but something didnt seem right: Moving a movie from a direct high-filming area where it was ORIGINALLY set, to a small town on the coast of GA.
Read on another website, it was stated that Nicholas Sparks was apprehensive about moving his plot into a different setting, but due to funding and North Carolina’s inability to cooperate with movie budgets, they had to move the movie into a small beach town on the coast of Georgia. I believe this was a serious alteration, and could effect how book readers would view and patronize the movie.
Being the so called “East Hollywood”, I believe that this film’s inability to be shot here could potentially put a damper on Wilmington’s repuation as a large filming location in the future. The book was set here, along with Nicholas Sparks’ reputable North Carolina-based books. While anywhere can be filmed and called somehere else, this may have been a possible “last chance” for some NC based films in the future.
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In case people are wondering, the reason why so many films are being shot in Georgia is because of the tax incentive the state is giving away. I found a link on CNN that really explains alot and gives some good information. Enjoy!
http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/02/24/tax.incentives/index.html -
I have not read Spark’s book, The Last Song, however I do know a lot of thought goes into finding the location for a film, especially a high budget film by Disney. I think it is unprofessional to commit to a place for filming and then change your mind last minute. This all makes me wonder if it was just assumed that the movie be filmed in Wilmington/Wrightsville Beach or if he verbally agreed? Irregardless of how it was decided I don’t feel it will hurt the East Coast Hollywood nor do I feel it was personal, it was just finding the location that fit the film the best.
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I am a fan of Nicholas Sparks and my initial appeal of his books was the fact that most of them took place on the East Coast, particularly in Wilmington. Although I have not read The Last Song, and I am not particularly a fan of Miley Cyrus, I think it is a disappointment that the film was not shot in Wilmington. I think the movie would have been extremely advantageous and profitable to the city. I hope that in the future, Wilmington can remain the Hollywood of the East, even with this set back.
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I find it really strange that Sparks would agree to have The Last Song shot in Georgia. After seeing The Notebook and knowing that he writes his books about North Carolina, why change that by shooting somewhere else? Wilmington used to be known as an incredibly popular area for film and television, but because of Georgia’s tax breaks, we really seem to be losing business. Wilmington needs to find a way to make production companies film here, otherwise this area will go down the drain.
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I wouldn’t call myself a huge fan of Nicholas Sparks, nothing personal, I’m just not in to sappy romance novels. I certainly wouldn’t call myself a Miley fan either, so the only appeal about “The Last Song” to me would be the fact that it was filmed in Wilmington, a place I call home. Now that this is no longer a factor, I honestly have no interest in the movie whatsoever. Aside from a professional/business aspect, I don’t blame Sparks for changing the location. Wilmington may be known for it’s involvement in the entertainment industry, but it is quickly growing and becoming more popular in other aspects like tourism and becoming a college town. Maybe Wilmington/Wrightsville was a perfect setting three years ago, but a lot has changed even since then. I do agree that Wilmington, or the state of NC rather, does need to step up its game when it comes to bringing in multi-million dollar business deals through the film network. These are opportunities that are far too lucrative to let slip away.
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Danielle, thanks for the link. That is why many American movies or TV shows are filmed in Canada rather than the United States. Producers can film cheaper in Canada due to the Hollywood union labor laws. Also, Canada is a country with every visual setting that a producer might need. Toronto can act as NYC or any other large east coast city, Vancouver provides a location for coastal scenes or a west coast city, and everywhere else in Canada provides various wilderness locations.
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While I have not read any of the books written by Nicholas Sparks or for that matter seen any of the movies, I have become well aware of Hollywood’s near abandonment of Wilmington and the state of North Carolina as a whole. I originally came to UNCW as a pre film major because of all that I had heard about production in Wilmington over the years, but it seems it has lost nearly all major production opportunities. These days, as others have pointed out, almost all production is done in california, NY, or canada as this is mostly due to costs and budgeting. Wilmington has grown tremendously in the past 10 years or so, playing much more on its touristy beach town vibe. However, I personally hope that Wilmington and screen gems can bounce back to bring major production back to one of the most beautiful parts of the state.
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A devout Sparks fan, I read the book when it first came out. I spent the first half hour of the movie last week trying to figure out where on earth they had set up a carnival at Wrightsville beach and how I could have missed it! By the end of the show my sister and I made the logical conclusion that there was no way that beach was our beach. Bummed our beach town didn’t make the movie but happy to have an explanation 🙂
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