WILMINGTON, N.C. - A massive indoor water tank for filmmakers to shoot underwater shots, said to be among only three in North America, will become part of a North Carolina studio that also will soon include the largest sound stage built east of California. Forced inside by inclement weather, EUE/Screen Gems Ltd. officials held a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday to discuss the stage and the 283,000-gallon tank, which they say already attracts six availability inquiries a month.
Filmmakers use the indoor tanks to shoot everything from ocean to river scenes.
By next spring, the studio also will be home to a 37,500-square-foot, no-column sound stage, the 10th on the 50-acre lot. The state is hoping the stage and tank will attract more productions.
"The dream stage is really a dream come true for North Carolina," said Gov. Mike Easley, who directed the show, advising others to turn their gold shovels.
"I do this a lot," Easley said to Chris Cooney, president of EUE/Screen Gems, and others. "One, two three ... action."
The stage and 60-foot-by-60-foot indoor water tank will "fill a void that the major Hollywood studios and the best international producers and directors have demanded," said Bill Vassar, executive vice president of the Wilmington studio.
"The ... stage will accommodate the almost daily advances in technology for special effects and the countless emerging production platforms," he said. "Wilmington is on the verge of becoming one of the major film production centers in the world."
EUE/Screen Gems researched film industry needs for three years before deciding on the stage and tank. The other two indoor tanks, one at Universal, the other at Warner Brothers in Los Angeles, are typically reserved for productions by those studios, Vassar said.
He said studio reaction in California last week was positive and that filming is much less expensive in North Carolina than Los Angeles.
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