Filming of a tire commercial on the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge has been rescheduled for Saturday.
The shoot, originally planned for 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday – with intermittent closures on the bridge – was canceled late Wednesday afternoon. According to a new permit filed with the City of Wilmington, Saturday’s filming will only require such brief closures from 9 to 11 a.m.
Crews with local production company Lighthouse Films began filming the commercial earlier this week off Greenville Loop Road. They’ll set up Saturday beginning at 7 a.m. and wrap and be out of the area by 11 a.m.
The scene on the bridge will still involve 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. Closures, if needed, will last two to three minutes and Wilmington police officers on hand reserve the right to stop the closures should back-ups along the bridge become significant.
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 has approved the change in the filming date.
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.
