Wilmington, NC

Wilmington, North Carolina was once a sleepy town until Frank Capra, Jr. showed up in 1983 looking for an antebellum house to burn down for his movie “Firestarter.” After looking at various Wilmington real estate, he found the perfect house. In fact, he loved the house so much, they decided not to burn it down, but built a replica instead on the property which was incinerated.

By the end of filming, Capra and his producer, Dino DeLaurentiis decided that this town was the perfect place for a movie studio which they built. Over the years the studio has changed hands several times, but it still survives. Wilmington residents claim that the film and the studio have made for a great arts environment. A local film, art and beer tasting event is held each year in May. Wilmington is also still a great place to shoot a film.