One Pretty Creek? Why hosting massively popular teen dramas is in Wilmington's DNA

For a lot of people, the Wilmington area is a magical place.

And, for a lot of these same people, nothing captures that magic better than a trio of top-rated, locally shot teen dramas that have become synonymous with Wilmington: "Dawson's Creek," which aired on The WB from 1998 to 2003; "One Tree Hill," which aired on The CW from 2003 to 2012; and "The Summer I Turned Pretty," whose first two seasons aired on Amazon Prime from 2022-23 and which begins shooting its third and most likely final season in Wilmington next month. (Show creator Jenny Han, on whose books the 'Summer I Turned Pretty' series is based, has teased a possible spinoff.)

Of course, all kinds of television shows have been shot in the Wilmington area, from gritty, edgy dramas like "Hightown" and comedies both silly ("Welcome to Flatch") and raunchy ("Eastbound and Down") to series like "Under the Dome" or "Sleepy Hollow" that blend dramatic and fantastical elements.

And yet, for most of the past quarter-century, Wilmington is best-known for hosting one massively popular teen drama series after another. In some ways, it seems like "The Summer I Turned Pretty" is Wilmington's new "One Tree Hill," which was our new "Dawson's Creek."

"I mean, 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' is the teen show right now, just like 'Dawson's Creek' and 'One Tree Hill' were the teen shows before," said Katie Schmidt, a Florida native and fan of all three shows who now lives in Wilmington. "There's something weirdly comforting about watching super-attractive, kind-of teenagers" stumble through the struggles we all face to become adults.

"I still feel it living here," Schmidt added. "Last night I walked to meet a friend downtown and I’m not just walking down Front Street. I’m walking past the 'Ask Me To Stay' wall (from 'Dawson's Creek'), a block from Naley Bench (on 'One Tree Hill') and up the street from Whale of a Tale Books (from 'The Summer I Turned Pretty')."

Reasons why

Theories abound as to why the shows amorphously define, or are defined by, Wilmington. Some see a coincidence. Others see varying combinations of a strong local crew base, filming incentives, diverse locations and a tendency for the industry to want to replicate, or at least approximate, past successes.

"I think it definitely is a pattern that still works in terms of locations," said Monty Hobbs, Wilmington-based producer of "Divine Renovations," a reality show starring Erik Estrada. "Both 'Dawson's' and 'One Tree' were able to use the landscape and locations to really give (the shows) texture," a tradition "Summer I Turned Pretty" has continued.

Longtime Wilmington actor Alisa Harris said that "teen drama and coming-of-age stories do seem to thrive in more bucolic settings. Urban settings have a different, less innocent-seeming vibe."

Erika Arlee of Wilmington's Honey Head Films production company notes that "there is something nostalgic about the backdrop of Wilmington, whether you’re creating a story around summertime flings or small-town charm … Wilmington has a timeless nature that allows you to explore all stages of a coming-of-age story."

For former Wilmington resident Ziggy Nix, "A commonly used trope is the coming-of-age summer vacation' and these shows are held up in a sense by that trope. Setting a show in a beach town gives it a perpetual summer vacation vibe … It's always brimming with sunlight and that summer vacation feeling that many of us can relate to."

Significant similarities

Of course, while all three shows share similarities — casts that are hot and mostly young, a heavy reliance on contemporary music to set the mood, robust use of diverse Wilmington-area locations from downtown and the beach to Anywhere USA-style strip malls and suburbs — they also have voices, themes and characters that are distinct.

Dawson's Creek was pretty much a PG show, for example, but "The Summer I Turned Pretty" drops more F-bombs in one episode than "Dawson's" or "One Tree" had in their entire runs (something that may have more to do with "Pretty" being on streaming instead of cable than anything else).

And yet, the similarities are significant enought that the shows feel connected. Much has been made of how James Van Der Beek, who played the titled charater in "Dawson's Creek," appeared as a filmmaker (Dawson's dream job) in the sixth season of "One Tree Tree," whose stars Hilarie Burton and Chad Michael Murray both had small roles on "Dawson's."

And while "One Tree Hill" was set in a fictional North Carolina town that might as well have been named Wilmington, Capeside ("Dawson's Creek") and Cousins Beach ("Summer I Turned Pretty") are both fictional towns in Massachusetts.

All three shows have served as launching pads for their stars into broader fame: Michelle Williams, Katie Holmes and Josh Jackson from "Dawson's"; Burton, Murray, Sophia Bush and others from "One Tree"; and now Christopher Briney and Lola Tung from "Pretty."

One Pretty Creek?

Beyond the practical reasons for why all three shows have shot in Wilmington, some see a deeper connection, as if there's something innate to this area that makes it the ideal setting for a teen drama.

"Wilmington seems like a teen," said Wilmington artist John E. Gray. "Dealing with insecurities, making mistakes, looking for love but doesn't know exactly how to go about it, so often placing money and ideals of beauty over soul, working to transcend the generations before them that hold much darkness."

Yana Biryükova is a native of Russia who graduated from the University of North Carolina Wilmington over a decade ago. These days, she lives and works in New York City.

"I’ve been in this country for about 15 years now and lived in Wilmington for three while attending UNCW," Biryükova said. "Growing up I watched all the American shows — 'Dawson’s Creek,' 'The OC,' 'One Tree Hill,' you name it. To me, they represented teen America that I craved. And then I move to this small, beautiful place. And it just checks all the boxes … In a certain part of town, at a certain angle, it just looked right. There is some strange carefree spirit of safe, blissful lack of responsibility that I felt there, and it seems to me the characters in these shows have that too. The 'everything will be all right' myth."

Schmidt, the Florida native who now lives in Wilmington, said, "I think it’s the charm factor for sure. There are other glitzy teen shows ('Gossip Girl,' 'The OC,' etc.) that are appealing in their own right and take place in New York or California. Wilmington is both familiar and aspirational to teenagers growing up in small to mid-size towns.

"They all make Wilmington look so magical," she added. "I watched so many other shows as a teenager, but 'Dawson's Creek' is the only one where I was like, 'I have to go there one day.'"

Schmidt's not the only one. There are no hard numbers about the number of people who've either moved to or visited Wilmington as a direct or indirect result of watching one of these shows, but anecdotally at least, it's not insubstantial.

Episodoes live on in the streaming universe, and "One Tree Hill" tourism continues to be a thing: Just check all the fresh signatures and show quotes regularly added to the Harry Forden Sixth Street Bridge so prominently featured in "One Tree."

Whether "The Summer I Turned Pretty" inspires a similar amount of tourism and/or relocation, or if three seasons isn't quite enough to accomplish that, remains to be seen.

It's worth noting that Wilmington could've had even more famous teen dramas set here than we already do.

If not for North Carolina's so-called "bathroom bill" from 2016, which opponents said discriminated against transgender people, Wilmington would've landed hit Netflix show "Outer Banks."

Creators Josh and Jonas Pate wrote OBX to be filmed in Wilmington, but filming moved to South Carolina after Netflix balked at filming in North Carolina due to the controversy surrounding the bill.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Wilmington TV: Dawson's Creek, One Tree Hill, Summer I Turned Pretty