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.

Some N.C. film news

According to the Citizen-Times, Asheville resident and film star Andie MacDowell will be in Flat Rock on Jan. 16 to screen the documentary “The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo.”

The movie will be shown at the Flat Rock Cinema, followed by a reception with McDowell. Tickets are $7, with all sales and any donations going to Mainstay, Henderson County’s domestic violence prevention agency.

The Emmy-nominated film shows atrocities against the Congolese women and girls by militant soldiers in the Congo of Africa and documents the mass rapes of women and girls as a tool of intimidation in an effort to profit from the mining of minerals such as tin, tantalum and tungsten.

In addition, the News & Record in Greensboro reports that TV icon Ed Asner is in High Point making a feature film based on the script by High Point U. professor Ed Simpson.

Asner plays the lead character in “Elephant Sighs.”

On Wednesday, Asner and other cast and crew filmed in a warehouse-turned-movie set in town. It has become a community center in a fictional Pennsylvania town, where Simpson set his comedy/drama. The “bromance” tells a story of loss, loneliness and the healing power of friendship.

Asner said the film attracted him because “it was a boy flick. I was busy in it. I had some interesting things to say.”

“It’s a sweet film,” Asner said between takes. “It’s a film about people who need each other and fulfill each other. If we do the right job on it, people will feel good when they see it.”

Familiar actors play the four other main roles.

David Wells, a Guilford College and UNCG alumnus, has appeared in films and a list of TV shows, including “CSI” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

John Cariani has appeared in “Numb3rs” and “Law & Order”; Jack Kehler, in films “The Big Lebowski” and “Men in Black II”; and Mark Fite on television in the sitcoms “Friends” and “Seinfeld.”

“They are so talented and great guys to work with,” Simpson said.

Filming is expected to wrap up fin High Point and Thomasville on Jan. 23. The movie should be out in the spring.

Simpson, Carr and Wells attended Guilford College together in the 1970s.

'Critical' rebate will help N.C. film industry

A new law, just signed by Gov. Bev Perdue, could go a long way in saving North Carolina's film industry.

Moviemakers will get a 25 percent rebate on many of their production expenses in North Carolina under a bill signed into law by Gov. Beverly Perdue on Thursday[ said the N&O].

The bill, which increases the previous 15 percent rebate, was described as critical to cultivating the state's film industry, which includes a Screen Gems studio in Wilmington. Various states have engaged in a bidding war as they fatten their handouts to Hollywood. Georgia, which recently snatched a Miley Cyrus movie from North Carolina, raised its rebate to 20 percent. ...

Under the rebate, filmmakers total up what they spent on salaries, hotel rooms, renting land and buildings, supplies, food and assorted other expenses. The following year, they submit those totals to the state and get a rebate worth 25 percent.

Quick hits: Two Winston-Salem legends in the news

Maya Angelou celebrates her 80 years of joy and pain
"In the dining room of her elegantly restored Harlem town house, beneath painted clouds on a light blue ceiling, Maya Angelou is asked how it feels to be turning 80.

" 'Exciting! she says with a broad smile, then adds: 'The body knows. The bones don't let you forget.'

"The woman who defies a simple label — Angelou has been a memoirist, poet, civil rights activist, actress, director, professor, singer and dancer — is getting an early birthday gift," says USA Today.

"Two longtime friends and her niece, who is Angelou's archivist, have collaborated on an illustrated book, Maya Angelou: A Glorious Celebration (Doubleday, $30), a tribute and scrapbook, that will be published Tuesday. ...

"What she does like is to be called Dr. Angelou. Although she never went to college, she has been awarded more than 30 honorary degrees. Since 1981, she has been a professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. ..."

Grier to be honored in her hometown
"Actress Pam Grier will be honored next month during an N.C. film festival.

"The Winston-Salem Journal reports Grier will receive a master of cinema award during the RiverRun International Film Festival in Winston-Salem. The festival runs April 23-28," says the Associated Press.

"Grier appears in the Showtime series 'The L Word.' She's best known for starring in movies in the 1970s.

"Grier was born in Winston-Salem in 1949. Her family later settled in Colorado, where she graduated high school. ..."

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. ..."

Quick hits: Good news, bad news and 'More good news

Emerald Isle plans new pier
"A year after its bid to buy the Bogue Inlet Fishing Pier fell through, the town of Emerald Isle is working with the N.C. Aquariums for a new structure at the site of a pier wiped out by storms in 1996," writes the News & Observer.

"State and local officials Thursday announced a joint effort to build a 1,000-foot concrete pier that eventually would be one of three state-operated piers along the coast. Plans call for the $12.2 million project to be completed in five years.

"The town had tried to buy the existing pier near Bogue Inlet last year, but the deal fell through, Town Manager Frank Rush Jr. said. ..."

Hollywood strike could script trouble for Wilmington
"It's the ultimate game of 'hurry up and wait' for local filmmakers," wrote the Wilmington Star-News.

"Today is the final day of negotiations between the Writers Guild of America and the group that signs its members' checks, the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers. The two groups have until midnight to work out a new deal covering, among other things, residual pay for films and TV shows sold through iTunes and other nontraditional media outlets. If, as expected, no settlement is reached, the WGA membership has authorized a strike.

"Threat of work stoppage has temperatures running high in Hollywood, but workers in Wilmington's production community are playing it cool. ..."

Biltmore Estate among top destinations for 'alternative' Thanksgivings
"You can celebrate Thanksgiving with a horse and carriage ride at the landmark Biltmore Estate in Asheville, N.C., which will already by decorated for Christmas by then," writes the Associated Press. "For meals, you have a choice of venues—Bistro, Deerpark or Stable Cafe, or, if you're staying at the Inn on Biltmore Estate, you can have your turkey at The Dining Room. Three-night packages at the Inn start at $1,760 for two; details at http://www.biltmore.com."