WILMINGTON – TNT’s “Good Behavior” got renewed. House Bill 2 was repealed (sort of: it’s complicated). But many local filmmakers are seeing the same three choices as a year ago: quit, light out for the territories or stay and fight an uphill battle in Wilmington.
Wilkin Hanaway, a recent film studies graduate from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, told Port City Daily a familiar story.
“Almost the entire film industry as we knew it has left Wilmington, there’s a void now,” Hanaway said. “Some people have given up hope, and some are driving to Georgia, they’re moving away. There are definitely people that stay, that have stayed, but there’s not a lot communication, we’re kind of scattered to the wind.”
Hanaway, along with fellow UNCW graduate and business partner Paige Blankenship, recently founded Lucid Visions Media, a production company based in Wilmington. Hanaway and Blankenship were both heavily involved with the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Hanaway founded the CIE’s media team). But the pair of recent graduates are interested in more than a start-up: they’re trying to reboot the local Wilmington film community.
UNCW’s role in local film
Part of these efforts came out of a feeling shared by Blakenship and Hanaway about UNCW’s film department and its emphasis on theory over production.
“Their production side is weak,” Blankenship said. “They do have great tangible resources, they have – for example – a great editing lab. But I didn’t feel they had enough professors to handle that side of it. It felt like the focus was mostly on theory.”
David Monahan, chairman of the film studies department at UNCW, said “theory” plays a vital role in film-making and in the university.
“The University, and our department, is very clear that we’re a liberal arts university,” Monahan said. “We’re very clear about that to students, we’re teaching film in the context of a broader liberal arts education, which means – yes – we’re going to be teaching critical thinking, how to write analytically. The history and language of film are incredibly important to how you ultimately put together a film – all of the great filmmakers were students of film.”
Monahan added that the University has confirmed plans to add a more production-focused MFA film program, but that production courses are readily available to undergrads.
“Do I wish we could have a BFA program, where students could focus on the skills they’ll use on set? Of course,” Monahan said. “But that’s just not practical right now. I can say we are adding an MFA, which is heavily focused on filmmaking. You’ll have 36 films from a class, which is also that many more opportunities for undergraduates to get involved. But, I need to say, for our undergraduates, if they want to learn production we have the classes – and great instructors. If students want to learn to gaffe, or edit sound, we have those classes.”
Blakenship said that part of the problem might be misconceptions or lack of communication between the school and students, mixed with a little youthful naivete.
“To be 100 percent honest, I was not sure what I was walking into when I started at UNCW,” Blankenship said. “And, yes, that might have just been my thing. I might have been young and naïve, and it might have been a lack of clarity on their part. I do I remember looking at the promotional material and touring the department, and I was seeing cameras, I was seeing the editing lab. That’s what I thought I had signed up for.”
One thing Blankenship and Monahan agree on is that some of most important opportunities happen outside of the classroom, regardless of whether it’s theory or production being taught there. Monahan said the Lucid Media founders were exemplars of what it takes to get the most out of the college experience.
“I’m very proud of Paige and Wilkin,” Monahan said. “But they really worked hard to track down opportunities, to find those mentorship opportunities. Some students just go through the motions. There are some unrealistic expectations that you’ll graduate and be directing a major film. You’re going to be working your way up. That means, sooner or later, seeking out opportunity – or creating it. I mean, for example, Wilkin pretty much built the CIE’s media team from scratch.”
Remedies, work-arounds and community
Blakenship and Hanaway said they weren’t looking to pillory UNCW, but hoped that they could help other students and graduates.
“I went to Monahan, but I didn’t want to just dump my problems and issues on his desk,” Blankenship said. “What we’re interested in now is looking forward. We know that changing things at University will take a long time, so we’re looking for outside-the-box remedies and work-arounds.”
For the Lucid Media founders, that means helping provide opportunities for experience and community.
“We know there people doing great things in Wilmington,” Blankenship said. “But, the thing is, no matter what your experience was in school, once you’re out, you’re kind of in the wild. We’ve talked with a lot of people like that — they’re hard at work, but they feel isolated. They’re not aware of each other, there’s no meeting place, no communication – and I think that’s what we’re really after, creating community.”
Hanaway and Blankenship held a forum last week at Iron Clad brewery to gauge interest in a new organization (“very tentatively titled “NC Film Forum,” according to Blankenship). The forum was held alongside Cucalorus organizer Dan Brawley, CIE manager Laura Brogdon-Primavera and Kyle Laeurmann, a member of the Blue Clay Collective (a film group founded by Cape Fear Community College graduates). Despite featuring some luminaries of the local film scene, promotion for the event was low-key, and Blankenship expected a dozen or two people might turn up.
“We actually didn’t get a total count,” Blankenship said, “because we filled up our sign-up sheet. The bartenders said about 80 people were buying beer, and I did a rough head count and guesses about a hundred. To be honest, it was a lot more than we expected.”
The NC Film Forum was an organic affair. Blankenship said that while she hopes future events, to be held monthly will be “a bit more formal and structured,” the first gathering was designed specifically to hear what people wanted from a resurgent film community.
Forum members responding to a survey highlighted a number of issues, including further education and mentoring, breaking into the commercial market and getting connected to resources.
“These are all things we can help do,” Blankenship said. “If someone needs a camera that shoots in low light, we can connect them to someone with a [Sony] AS72. If someone needs a lighting person, or if someone wants to work on sound editing, we can help connect them. We may not be able to fund them, but we can provide resources and a community.”
Film in Wilmington
Regardless of what happens in Raleigh – or Hollywood – making independent film in Wilmington will likely remain an uphill battle. Professor Monahan, himself a filmmaker, said there was something special about the city.
“I’m very lucky to have a full time job here, to be tenured. I don’t have to make that hard decision to stay or go,” Monahan said. “But I can say I understand those who stay. It’s an uphill battle, making independent film in Wilmington. But then, making film – any film – is an uphill battle. Wilmington is more special than Atlanta. It’s different than Austin. There’s something about making film here that is very, very compelling.”
Blankenship said, “I’m not totally sure I want to stay here forever. But Wilmington does feel like home, like the kind of place you establish your roots. I do know there is work to do here right now. Wilmington is at a serious fork in the road, we have the potential to go uphill very fast, and we could also go downhill just as fast. Independent film isn’t going to happen here without work, and if we don’t do it I don’t know who will.”
