Hey, it's White Lake on the big screen!

North Carolina has been the filming location for its fair share of Hollywood movies over the years. Just off the top of my head I can think of the following:
Firestarter
Last of the Mohicans
Dirty Dancing
Nights in Rodanthe

And this barely scratches the surface.

The latest Melissa McCarthy film, Tammy, was filmed almost exclusively in the Old North State, with good old White Lake as the setting for the Jet ski scene that has made it into the trailer.

I haven't seen Tammy, so I can't speak to WHERE the movie actually takes place (aside from the fact that the protagonist is apparently en route to Niagara Falls). Maybe the movie takes place in North Carolina. But, as Brendan Szulik recently pointed out at Raleigh & Company, probably not. Very few movies filmed in North Carolina actually take place in North Carolina -- unless you count (egads) some of Bad Grandpa. And maybe that's for the best. Otherwise we'd probably come off looking like hicks and hillbillies.

The one movie that I feel like truly captured the essence of N.C. -- particularly RURAL N.C. -- was Junebug. I can remember watching scenes and thinking, "I know those people!" or, "I've been in a house just like that!" But even that film featured a crazy, perverted artist out in the sticks.

I guess you win some and you lose some.

Lake Lure to honor Swayze

Twenty-years later, fans of the movie "Dirty Dancing" still make a pilgrimage to the mountain town of Lake Lure to re-live their favorite moments. Lake Lure is, to many, synonymous to the movie.

So it only makes sense that the town and community will hold a service in honor of the late actor Patrick Swayze, who died of pancreatic cancer earlier this week.

The event is set for 7 p.m. Saturday at the Firefly Cove development, where scenes from the film “Dirty Dancing” were shot more than 20 years ago. Swayze, who starred in the movie, died Monday of pancreatic cancer [according to the Citizen-Times]. ...

“We've had a lot of calls coming in to the community. That's why this was put together,” said Michelle Whitaker, communications manager with the Rutherford County Tourism Development Authority. ...

Besides paying tribute to Swayze, the event will help promote awareness of pancreatic cancer, Whitaker said.

Speakers will include Rev. Everette Chapman, who was pastor at Fairfield Mountain Chapel in Lake Lure when the movie was made, and Peggy Keys, who's active in the Pancreatic Action Network.

Whitaker advises people who attend to bring flashlights instead of candles. Parking is somewhat limited at Firefly Cove, she said.

The iconic movie reached classic status and became part of the fabric of Lake Lure, where a great deal of the movie was filmed and where the stars stayed during the filming. ...

Film festival hopes to shine focus on Western N.C., Asheville

Wilmington may get most of the hype when it comes to North Carolina's viability as a film-making destination, but Western North Carolina more than holds its own. Just think about the films that have been filmed (or partly filmed) in our state's mountains: "Dirty Dancing," "Last of the Mohicans," "Forrest Gump" and also "Nell," among many.

A film festival in Asheville hopes to take advantage of this history.

"Asheville is rich in filmmakers who, because of inexpensive, powerful equipment and a fast Internet connection, can live here as easily as the media metros of Los Angeles and New York," says the Citizen-Times. "Asheville visionaries are trying to make the city a center of digital arts — an effort that gets no small boost this week with the opening of the Asheville Film Festival.

"The festival features a variety of independent films, including features, documentaries, shorts and animation, as well as a student film competition. There are industry panel discussions, studio tours, parties and galas, and free professional development courses. The Asheville Film Festival, now in its fifth year, adds hundreds of people to downtown’s already busy sidewalks, amping up the excitement of pre-holiday season shoppers, art gallery aficionados, and lovers of fine food and drink. Last year’s festival attracted some 8,500 visitors, with a quarter of the people coming from outside the area. Each year, three-quarters of the films sell out. ...

"Festival promoters hope the film festival helps the city make a smooth transition into the lucrative digital arts.

"They already are pretty valuable. The nonprofit arts and culture industry in Buncombe County generates $65 million and 2,192 jobs annually, according to a study by Americans for the Arts, the leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America. The Asheville Hub Project, an ambitious plan to create economies on existing strengths, contends the arts are already one of major engines driving moneymaking in the area.

"The film and video production industry spent about $5 million last year in Western North Carolina — up from $3.5 million the year before, according to Mary Trimarco, director of the WNC Film Commission. Locally last year, crews shot the feature films 'Don’t Fade Away,' 'A Dance for Bethany' and 'Ghost Town: The Movie.' Several film and video production companies have moved or opened in the area in recent years, including 2 Bruce Studio and See No Evil Films, both of Asheville. ..."

'Dirty Dancing' still resonates with Lake Lure

The setting for the movie was supposed to be the Catskills in New York. But 20 years later, fans of the movie "Dirty Dancing" continue to flock (make a pilgrimage?) to the actual spot(s) where the movie was filmed: the beautiful area around Lake Lure, N.C.

Yours truly wrote a couple of years ago for a trade publication about Lake Lure: there "are still fans of the movies [including "Last of the Mohicans"] that associate the setting with the films. And while those fans may be disappointed to find out that the employee cabins from 'Dirty Dancing' are nowhere to be found, they will not go away completely disappointed for Lake Lure remains an appealing, beautiful setting."

To whit: "Nearly every day, someone makes a pilgrimage to the old boys camp here where much of the movie 'Dirty Dancing' was filmed," writes the Asheville Citizen-Times.

" 'They say they just want to see the site,' said John Cloud, who is developing the property into a luxury residential community. 'I’m just stunned. It takes work on their part to find out (the locations) where the movie was shot.'"

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Lionsgate will screen a 20th anniversary edition of the movie that includes interviews with the people who made the film and why it’s made such an impact on American pop culture. The film will be shown only those two days and only in 300 theaters nationwide.

Sometimes called “the ‘Star Wars’ for girls,” the romantic movie is more popular than the two lead actors it made stars out of — Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey.

Grey played innocent 17-year-old Frances “Baby” Houseman, who in the summer of 1963 vacations with her parents in the Catskills. She meets Johnny Castle (played by Swayze), the hotel dance instructor, and is mesmerized by him, as well as his dance style. She soon becomes his pupil in dance and falls in love.