Who's who in Wilmington's film industry? A look at top players as production nears return

Wilmington's film industry had a rough year in 2023, with only a few film and television productions shooting here before strikes by unions representing writers and actors shut things down for most of the year.

With the strikes resolved, the industry looks to bounce back in 2024. Here are some of the people who will be deeply involved or even leading the charge.

Chris Crowder

Cinespace Wilmington

In October of last year, when Cinespace, a worldwide collection of film studios, puchased the Wilmington and Atlanta campuses of EUE/Screen Gems Studios, Crowder was named head of client services and operations in Wilmington.

Crowder was previously Vice President of Physical Operations for EUE/Screen Gems Studios, and in Wilmington he takes over for the longtime local Screen Gems chief Bill Vassar, who retired at the end of 2023.

In a statement, Cinespace Studios COO and co-managing Partner Eoin Egan said that Crowder is "responsible for managing all day-to-day studio operations and client relations. He also works closely with Ian Gibson, Director of Sales and Production Planning on business development.

"Chris has been on the lot for many years and understands the needs of a production and the Wilmington film and TV community."

Crowder's role will be different from Vassar's, as Cinespace is structured quite differently than Screen Gems. But he'll still be the top locally based person as Wilmington's biggest film studio, which dates back to the 1980s, enters a new era.

The Duntons

DuntonCine Studios

For years, British camera wizard Joe Dunton was a prominent member of Wilmington's film community and ran the Joe Dunton & Co. camera shop, or JDC, on 23rd Street in Wilmington. JDC rented camera kits and lent expertise and support to dozens of locally filmed TV and movie productions, from "Matlock" to "One Tree Hill."

Dunton sold JDC to Panavision around 2010, then sold the building on 23rd Street about a decade ago. Last year, however, Dunton's son Lester purchased the former JDC building on 23rd and opened DuntonCine Studios. The business will rent camera kits and equipment to film and TV productions shooting in the area, and DuntonCine Studios also does complex visual effects work, like "rear projection," which allows actors to do a scene in a studio while, on the screen, it looks like they're in a moving vehicle.

Lester Dunton's sister, Erica, is also well-known in Wilmington's film community, and has made her own movies here as well as directed episodes for locally shot Amazon drama "The Summer I Turned Pretty."

The Duntons: Wilmington's first family of film makes a celebrated return to the Port City

The Fincannons

Fincannon & Associates

This Emmy-winning company has cast actors in literally hundreds of movies and TV shows since forming in the 1980s. Fincannon & Associates has had offices in Wilmington since 1986, and also has a location in Atlanta.

Craig Fincannon is the company's president and his wife, Wilmington native Lisa Mae Fincannon, is a casting director. With Mark Fincannon, who is Craig's brother and the company's vice-president, they've worked on such projects as "Dawson's Creek," "The Conjuring" and, more recently, "The Summer I Turned Pretty" and "Hightown."

Johnny Griffin

Wilmington Regional Film Commission

Known as the Wilmington film commissioner, Griffin is in some ways the face of Wilmington's film industry and has been for more than 20 years. As film commissioner, Griffin helps bring work here by promoting the Wilmington area to film studios and production companies.

Once production companies are in town, the film commission often serves as a liason between them and the Wilmington area, linking them up with relevant government agencies, providing information on crew resources, and more.

Darla McGlamery

International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees

Under the title of "business agent," McGlamery heads Wilmington's Local 491 chapter of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts labor union, or IATSE, which represents film crew members in North Carolina, South Carolina and the Savannah area of Georgia.

In the past, like in 2021 when IATSE members voted to go on strike (the union reached a deal with production companies before a strike was officially called), McGlamery has been a vocal advocate for workers' rights. A large percentage of Wilmington's film crew base are IATSE members, and McGlamery helps represent them.

Tim Palmer

UNCW Department of Film Studies

Palmer is the relatively new head of the University of North Carolina Wilmington's film studies department. The department isn't typically directly involved in the local film industry, but it does train students who go on to work in it and maintains ties to the film industry in various ways, including hosting experts at its shiny new building on campus.

Jonas Pate

Filmmaker

Wilmington resident Jonas Pate is, with his brother, Joshua Pate, a creator of Netflix smash hit "Outer Banks." The series is mostly shot in South Carolina, but late last year the series shot some scenes in Wrightsville Beach, the first production work to be done in the Wilmington area since the strikes were settled.

The Pate brothers shot NBC show "Surface" here in the 2000s.

In 2022, Jonas Pate shot the pilot for a new show about a high school rock band trying to make it big in the Wilmington area. If the show is picked up, it's possible the series could shoot in Wilmington.

Kimberly Stewart

Kimmie Stewart Casting

The go-to Wilmington casting agency for extras. Stewart has done extras casting for such locally shot projects as Paramount's "Zoey 102," Netflix's "Echoes" and Fox TV's "Our Kind of People," as well as for South Carolina-shot Netflix hit "Outer Banks."

Mary Toffolon

City of Wilmington film liason

If you're filing a film permit in the city of Wilmington you have to do it through Toffolon, who works in the city's Community Services Department and whose title is technically "special events supervisor." When things get busy, she's sending out information on multiple film permits each week to keep the public (and the press) informed.

Kirk Englebright

Dark Horse Studios

Lots of people have talked about starting a new film studio in Wilmington over the years, but so far, Kirk Englebright, founder and CEO of Wilmington's independent Dark Horse Studios, is the only one to have done it.

Dark Horse has hosted such shows as Showtime's Emmy-nominated country music mini-series "George & Tammy," and last year announced a major expansion in anticipation of the film industry bouncing back from strikes by the writers' and actors' unions.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Who's who in the Wilmington, NC film industry? A guide to top players