EUE Screen Gems Studios
EUE Screen Gems Studios is located on 50 acres in the historic coastal town of Wilmington, N.C. It is the largest motion picture and production facility east of California. The studio has 10 sound stages including the new 37,500 square foot Stage 10 with a 90,000 gallon water tank that provides big productions the capability to shoot large water scenes. Stage 10 is the third largest stage in the United States and the tank is the largest in the United States outside of Hollywood.
EUE Screen Gems Studios is one of the busiest film and television facilities in North America having been home to over 350 feature films, television shows, and commercials. Productions include The Secret Lives of Bees with Dakota Fanning and Queen Latifah, Nights in Rodanthe starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane, 28 Days with Sandra Bullock, Domestic Disturbance starring John Travolta and the Martin Lawrence comedy Black Knight. EUE Screen Gems Studios was home to the television show Dawson’s Creek for the entire six year run.
The other nine stages range in size from 7,200 square feet to 20,000 square feet. Since buying the facility in 1996, EUE Screen Gems has purchased adjacent land that expands the property by 20 percent and the company has built new stages increasing shooting space by over 50 percent.
Dino DeLaurentiis, the Oscar award winning Italian film producer, established the studio in 1984. DeLaurentiis came to Wilmington a year earlier to shoot Firestarter with Drew Barrymore at Orton Plantation. He found the area offered everything he needed to make movies. Wilmington provided diverse locations, an ample supply of talented artists and craftsman, plenty of resources for construction materials, and a community excited about the prospect of becoming “Hollywood East”. In 1989, Carolco Pictures, producers of Rambo, The Terminator and Basic Instinct, purchased the studio and operated it for seven years.
EUE Screen Gems Ltd. bought the studio from Carolco 14 years ago. EUE/Screen Gems has made significant investments by upgrading much of the existing studio infrastructure giving the property a fresh more Hollywood feel. EUE Screen Gems Studios has one of the largest inventories of lighting equipment business in the southeast with a second location in Charleston, SC. There are also full production support services including production offices with construction mills, plaster and paint shops, a screening room, editing facilities and a commissary. The studio is home to several independent companies that provide additional support services such as sound mixing, casting, special effects and a postproduction services.
EUE Screen Gems offers walking tours of the lot on Saturdays at 12 noon and 2 pm year round and on Saturdays and Sunday at 12 noon and 2 pm from May to September. For more tour information please call (910) 343-3433.
