In the early 1980s, legendary producer Dino De Laurentiis came to Wilmington to shoot a film — and decided to stay. He built a studio on the edge of town, and almost overnight a quiet port city on the Cape Fear River became a production hub. The cameras never really left.
That studio — known over the years as DEG, EUE/Screen Gems, and today as Cinespace Studios, alongside Dark Horse Stages — grew into one of the largest filming facilities outside California. Sound stages, a backlot, even a massive indoor water tank for underwater scenes. Generations of crews built their careers here.
What makes Wilmington special isn't just the studio — it's the city itself. Brick-lined downtown streets, a historic riverfront, grand old homes, and the beaches of the Cape Fear coast give filmmakers an entire backlot in the open air. More than 400 productions have used it, from cult classics to network TV to Marvel blockbusters.
On Set Wilmington exists to tell that story the right way — not by pointing at buildings from across the street, but by walking you onto the real locations with someone who's spent thirty years working in this industry.