WILMINGTON, N.C. — At a groundbreaking near the coast at Wilmington, NC, production company, Dark Horse Studios is doubling in size. CEO and President, Krik Englebright said it's something that has been in the works for two years.
“We have two stages; stage one and two right now. That totals around 42-43 thousand square feet and we are now adding on stages three and four which is another 40 thousand square feet. So, our goal is to host a multitude of whether it’s feature films or TV or streaming, or even local productions," Englebright shared.
Filmmaking in North Carolina has seen a recent resurgence, but not just for the big studios, for local, independent production houses as well.
“We want to put North Carolina on the map and be a big part of creating that cycle that Erika is talking about it, making it sustainable in the entire loop instead of just tapping into one part and infusing it a little bit of time and resources in someone else’s production who’s gonna take it far away," Kristi Ray, co-founder of Honey Head Films said.
Ray and Erika Arlee co-founded Honey Head Films, a North Carolina-based company, back in 2016, and from their first short films to their current feature, A Song for Imogene. They’ve seen a steady increase in interest.
“So, we have gotten to be on the roller coaster ride. You know, as things have come back to North Carolina as we have had a banner year for film in the state, and we have gotten to be boots on the ground here for that and see the way that it has benefited the entire community," Arlee said.
To the west of Wilmington, in the Raeigh-Durham area, EbzB Productions recently completed their first feature, The Problem With The Hero. Co-founder David Sum Brunnen said that staying in North Carolina easy decision to stay local.
“Cast and crew, writers, cinematographers, editors, directors, I mean, you name it we have a wealth of that here in North Carolina. We did — most, if not all of our team, for this feature film, the problem of a hero was gleaned from North Carolina talent," stated Zum Brunnen.
With both local studios in the process of releasing their own North Carolina-based films soon, independent filmmaking in the state is rising like the tide.
“You know a lot of production comes to Dark Horse and that’s great for us! They want to collaborate, maybe their clients need to collaborate with us on one element of production, and vice versa, so it all feeds really well into each other." Arlee added.