BUSINESS

Lights, camera, museum?

2 efforts aim to bring film museum to Wilmington

Hunter Ingram StarNews Staff

WILMINGTON -- When crews aren't filming on the streets of Wilmington or premiering on the big or small screens, it can be difficult to appreciate the work of the local film industry out in the wild. But two different initiatives are aiming to change that.

When Kenyata Sullivan relocated his Whatever Wilmington eclectic pop culture shop from Castle Street to Grace Street this month, he saw an opportunity greater than just a retail space.

In its new home, Sullivan has not only opened his store -- which offers everything under the pop-culture sun including local filming props -- but also set aside an upstairs space out of which to build a film museum.

He's already well on his way to filling it up.

Over the years, Sullivan's collector instincts kicked in and he purchased local filming artifacts such as the dissected cow from CBS' series "Under the Dome," the computer used by Peyton (Hilarie Burton) in "One Tree Hill," a gravestone from "The Crow," a rocking chair from "Dawson's Creek," and a wig from "Blue Velvet."

"While we wait for actual museum, it seems a shame for the artifacts be collecting dust and not let people come see these pieces of history," he said.

Although the exhibition will be fleshed out and integrated into the shop as the business settles into its new home, many of the artifacts are already on display. The cow, in particular, is hard to miss by the checkout counter.

But Sullivan's effort to distill the impact of the local industry isn't the region's first.

Celebrating the local industry

For the fourth year, Rich and Kathleen Gehron, who run the Cape Fear Independent Film Festival, will open their seasonal local film exhibit at the Hannah Block Historic USO Community Arts Center. It is a small, but educational display featuring artifacts, information and pictures from formative and influential local productions.

Traditionally open from June to around Labor Day, the collection has always been envisioned as a dry run for something more permanent that local film and TV fans can visit as easily and often as the Cape Fear Museum, which did its own "Starring Cape Fear" exhibit in 2016.

"We want to have a film history portion, some larger production exhibits that would rotate out with different projects, a small theater and a few small classes to help educate the next generation of filmmakers," Rich Gehron said.

Kathleen Gehron added, "We really want to focus on the community that created this industry and celebrate the work they have made."

The biggest hurdle is funding. A museum doesn't offer much profit incentive for investors, especially considering the Gehrons put the price tag of their permanent museum at around $1 million. That cost includes buying a permanent venue, rotating out exhibits and securing the rights to even exhibit artifacts and video.

"It's a break-even project," Kathleen Gehron said.

That last part is key, as getting permission to even show clips and physical artifacts must go through several channels. When the Gehrons wanted to show clips from "Iron Man 3" in their display a few summers ago, Marvel Studios said no.

The work around is using pictures and documents such as call sheets for cast and crew because they don't violate ownership rights.

Most of their artifacts come directly from the local crew members, whose stories are key to giving the exhibit a voice.

Keeping it downtown

The Gehrons and Sullivan actually sat down a few months ago to talk out their respective efforts, swapping ideas and eventually agreeing to forge their own paths at their own pace.

Sullivan said he knows the Gehrons have been working on their museum for years and wishes them the best. But with his new space, he didn't want to let an opportunity slip by.

"It’s more that we have a bigger footprint now and the physical space to devote to it," Sullivan said.

The two parties did agree on one thing -- a film museum, whatever form it takes, should be close to downtown Wilmington.

"Our idea was always to be within proximity of the bulk of the filming locations," Kathleen Gehron said. "The closer we are to the locations, the better off we are in encouraging people to explore our downtown area."

Reporter Hunter Ingram can be reached at 910-343-2327 or Hunter.Ingram@StarNewsOnline.com.