A little “lights, camera, action” are coming to Wilmington this month, as production begins on two television shows filming their first seasons in and around the Port City.
According to permits filed with the City of Wilmington, filming for the TNT drama, “Good Behavior,” gets underway Monday, March 7, followed by the History channel series, “Six,” on Monday, March 14.
“Good Behavior” became the first confirmed project for 2016 after it was green-lighted late last year for nine episodes. The show, set in North Carolina and starring Michelle Dockery of “Downton Abbey”, shot its pilot in the area in October of last year.
The show is based off Blake Crouch’s bestselling Letty Dobesh book series. Fresh out of prison, Dobesh (Dockery), a thief and con artist, finds herself entangled in a hired hitman’s plan to kill another man’s wife.
Two of the show’s cast will be on hand Monday morning to shoot exterior dialogue scenes along One Tree Hill Way, adjacent to EUE/Screen Gems Studios. The filming will require closure of the road at the intersection with N. 23rd Street between 6:30 and 10:30 a.m.
The same day, crew will also set up at 9 a.m. at Cape Fear Country Club, 1518 Country Club Road, for golf course scenes involving two actors. No road closures will be required for the shoot, which is expected to run until 11 p.m.
Then, a week later, downtown Wilmington will be abuzz with activity as “Six,” about US Navy SEALs kicks off filming for its eight-episode season at both the U.S. Post Office, 152 N. Front St., and Cape Fear Community College’s Union Station just five blocks away.
The post office will be reimagined as a courthouse for an exterior scene where one character “drives up and parks, meets another on the steps and they have a conversation,” the permit states, with a possible “wet down” along in front of the building to reflect light off the street.
The set-up will create intermittent lane closures – held in two- to three-minute intervals – in the northbound lane of Front Street between Princess and Chestnutt from 7 a.m. to noon. Closures will be suspended during the “rush times” of 7:30 to 9 a.m.
Inside Union Station, filming for a scene involving a character interviewing for a job with a security company will take place between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., with no interruption to traffic.
“Six” will also shoot a larger scene involving eight characters at a home on Shirley Road, which is off 21st Street, between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. March 14 and 15. Noble Street between Shirley and Klein roads, will be closed between 1 and 9 p.m. the first day, and 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. the second, as will Shirley between N. 23rd Street and Klein.
Ahead of filming, news spread last month that “True Blood” actor Joe Manganiello is set to star in “Six” as Rip Taggart, a hardened former squad leader of SEAL Team 6 who, at the show’s start, is working to protect a small African village from Boko Haram.
Although fictional, “Six” is inspired by real missions, with plans to set each season in a different location. It was penned by Oscar-nominated screenwriter and Vietnam veteran William Broyles – whose credits include “Castaway” and “Jarhead” – and his son David Broyles, a military special operations veteran. The drama is a project of A+E Studios and The Weinstein Company.
Both “Six” and “Good Behavior” were approved for funding through the state’s film grant program. The shows will receive $7.2 million and $6.6 million, respectively.
Hilary Snow is a reporter at Port City Daily. Reach her at hilary.s@portcitydaily.com.
