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Screen Gems plans landmark soundstage

By BASHIRAH MUTTALIB
VARIETY

Chris Cooney, chief operating officer and prexy of EUE Screen Gems, has announced plans to build the largest film and television production stage on the East Coast.
"We've submitted the plans, applied for permits, begun preliminary clearing and ordered materials," Cooney said.

Facility, dubbed the Dream Stage, incorporated into EUE Screen Gems' facility in Wilmington, N.C., will be a column-free, 37,500-square-foot expanse with a grid height of 45 feet and dimensions of 150 feet by 250 feet. A 60-foot by 60-foot indoor tank with a depth of 10½ feet, one of the largest and deepest indoor production tanks in North America, also will be included.

The 50-acre facility is the largest studio lot east of California.

"This new stage will attract larger and more technologically advanced productions to North Carolina," said Bill Vassar, exec VP of EUE Screen Gems.

The stage is set to be completed next spring. EUE Screen Gems' existing nine stages range in size from 7,200 to 20,000 square feet.

"It's central to studio support services such as production offices, shops, wardrobe areas, warehouses and equipment," Vassar added.

"North Carolina is experiencing a renaissance in film production," said N.C. Film Office director Aaron Syrett. The commission reported $160.2 million in film, TV and commercial revenue for 2007, up 61% over 2006. Syrett credits the state's natural scenery and professional crew base in addition to the state government's newly expanded incentive package.

Gov. Mike Easley recently signed legislation to extend incentives to January 2014. Those incentives include a film credit consisting of a 15% tax credit on a $250,000 minimum in-state spend. Wages up to $1 million will qualify and the cost of production-related insurance now qualifies. Productions should register with an Intent to Film form and give onscreen credit to the state.

Television productions lensed at EUE Screen Gems Studios include Columbia Pictures Television's "Dawson's Creek"; CW Networks/Warner Bros. Television's "One Tree Hill," in production for its sixth season, occupying four stages and an additional 20,000 square-foot stage for several episodes; and two HBO series, "Little Britain USA" and "Eastbound and Down."

Screen Gems and North Carolina locations hosted production for the George Clooney-Renee Zellweger pic "Leatherheads" (which also lensed in South Carolina), the Richard Gere/Diane Lane feature "Nights in Rodanthe," Fox Searchlight's "The Secret Life of Bees," Paramount-Vantage's "The Marc Pease Experience," Lionsgate's "Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever" and Endgame's "A Good Old Fashioned Orgy."