WILMINGTON, NC – The North Carolina General Assembly, with broad bi-partisan support,
has allocated $500,000 in new funding to scale the Film Partnership of North Carolina program
statewide.
The Film Partnership of North Carolina, in partnership with IATSE 491, was established to
cultivate a diverse pipeline of interns. With the added support from the University of North
Carolina School of the Arts and Cape Fear Community College, the Film Partnership pairs
industry professionals with interns to train in the best practices of film and television production.
The Film Partnership has been keenly focused on developing a skilled workforce to support a
variety of independent film and television projects through the early phases of production and
filming. “Our organization is a middle ground between young professionals who have no
industry background but are interested in film and television, and the producers who need
access to local support,” says Lauren Vilchik, NC based Film Producer and Treasurer of the
Film Partnership of North Carolina. “The potential is a wide-reaching ripple effect; connecting
trained talent to jobs that establish local crews, which in turn attracts more in-state productions
creating more jobs.”
The program started as a local initiative in New Hanover county to test its viability and has now
mentored over 130 interns since March 2022, with 40 percent coming from underserved
communities. And in a year when the film and television industry was hit by historic, dual strikes
of the Screen Actors Guild and the Writers Guild, while still recovering from the effects of the
pandemic, the North Carolina Film Partnership supported paid opportunities within student-led
productions to continue contributing to the local industry.
“Early investments from the City of Wilmington and New Hanover County were absolutely
crucial to our success,” stated Susi Hamilton, President of the Film Partnership of North
Carolina. “Today, we are incredibly pleased to announce that we will be taking the program
statewide with a new investment and support from Governor Cooper and the General
Assembly.”
