UPDATE 4:36 p.m. The filming of a commercial on Cape Fear Memorial Bridge originally scheduled for 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday has been cancelled.
According to Tammy Skinner, recreation program specialist for the City of Wilmington, production crews are currently awaiting approval from the N.C. Department of Transportation to film on a later date.
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A tire commercial shooting in Wilmington this week may require some intermittent closures of the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge Thursday.
Crews with local production company Lighthouse Films began filming the commercial Tuesday off Greenville Loop Road.
According to permits filed with the City of Wilmington, cast and crew will move to the bridge from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday for a scene involving a motorcycle with a side car. A “picture car,” or vehicle with mounted cameras, will film from the opposite side of the bridge.
Tammy Skinner, recreation program specialist with the city, said while production work likely won’t cause much interruption, drivers to and from Brunswick County may experience brief delays.
“The production hopes to be able to film with the flow of traffic most of the time, which should not affect flow,” Skinner noted. “However, they have asked for the option to hold traffic in two- to three-minute intervals max, if necessary.”
If those intervals begin causing back-ups, she added, Wilmington police officers on hand can opt to discontinue closures. Two officers will be in the area to help direct traffic, at a cost of $240 to the production company.
Skinner said the city does not charge a fee for the use of roadways in filming but law enforcement are required at all access points. That fee is $30 an hour per officer, with a four-hour minimum.
The City of Wilmington permitted the commercial because parking was requested within city limits and the shooting will affect residents, Skinner said, but the N.C. Department of Transportation (NCDOT) signed off on the use of the bridge, since it falls within the state’s jurisdiction. NCDOT does not charge for use of roadways for filming.
Skinner said a virtual message board will be placed at Third and Wooster streets Wednesday to alert drivers of Thursday’s shoot.
The tire commercial is one of two projects shooting this week. Crews with NBC’s reality competition show, “The Biggest Loser,” were in town Tuesday for scenes at a local gym and along the downtown riverwalk.
And those projects follow the recent announcements that two shows–TNT drama “Good Behavior” and the History channel’s “Six” about a Navy SEAL team–have signed on to film their first seasons in and around the Port City this spring.
Hilary Snow is a reporter at Port City Daily. Reach her at hilary.s@portcitydaily.com.
