REGIONALREPORT Western
Hollywood plays the quiet game
Publicity is integral in making a movie a hit. But the studio behind the adaptation of a best-selling book that began filming in May in an abandoned mill village near Hildebran is forcing officials to keep quiet. “I’m unaware of a film called The Hunger Games being shot in the village,” says an official of the N.C. Film Office, which is under a nondisclosure agreement with Santa Monica, Calif.-based Lions Gate Entertainment Inc. “Do you have another name for it?” (Lionsgate has given the movie the code name Artemis during filming.)
It’s too early to quantify the economic impact shooting had on the area around Hildebran. It’s easier to guess at the concessions the film will receive from the state. The movie has a budget of $75 million, according to The Wall Street Journal. Film productions that spend at least $250,000 in North Carolina get a 25% tax credit, capped at $20 million.
Valdese Economic Development Investment Corp., which serves the Hildebran area, hopes the film will be good advertising for the Henry River mill village, a collection of decrepit buildings in the eastern part of Burke County. “What we need is a creative developer to come in and see the town’s potential and maybe convert those old buildings into gift shops or something,” says a VEDIC official who Lionsgate asked not to speak with the media. The village’s decay probably attracted the production considering The Hunger Games is set in a dystopian future (think the opposite of utopian).
At the end of May, production moved to Shelby, taking up residence in vacant warehouses. There, economic benefits were anecdotally available. “They used local retail for their props, stayed in local hotels, ate in local restaurants,” says Jackie Sibley, Cleveland County director of tourism. Still, security was tight. “At one point, I took my cellphone out on set to check messages, and there was panic. They were like that about anything that could take pictures.”
The Hunger Games will continue shooting across the state this summer, and it was recently announced that Lionsgate will turn the series by Suzanne Collins — it’s a trilogy — into four movies. If so and its multimillion-dollar budget returns, The Hunger Games might be a secret worth keeping.
MARION — Ed Hannon resigned after four years as CEO of McDowell Hospital. Board Chairman Norm Guthrie gave no reason other than to say Hannon will pursue other opportunities. Sonya Greck, a consultant with local physician practices who was interim CEO before Hannon was hired, will again take that role.
HENDERSONVILLE — Sam Neill, former chairman of the UNC Board of Governors and a two-time Democratic congressional candidate, was disbarred for taking money from a trust fund that was supposed to be distributed to the Community Foundation of Henderson County and Four Seasons Hospice. The State Bureau of Investigation is probing allegations that about $900,000 is missing.
FRANKLIN — Mission Health System in Asheville reached an agreement to manage Angel Medical Center. Officials say the agreement will help 59-bed Angel get competitive pricing for medical supplies and services and assist its recruiting, among other advantages. Terms weren’t disclosed.
OLD FORT — Janesville Acoustics, which makes fiber-based heat and sound insulation for the automotive industry, plans a $1.5 million expansion of its plant here. The Southfield, Mich.-based company will add 7,200 square feet and 40 jobs at the factory during the next three years, increasing employment to more than 150.