Screen Gems Studio

Little did I know that my latest residence is home for the largest movie studio east of LA in the US. I’m pretty clueless about TV these days, but Chip was down to visit from Boston and since Eric is home we took the entire brood to enjoy the tour last Saturday. The Screen Gems Studio in Wilmington is right next to the airport and the tours, which start every Saturday at 2PM cost $12 ($10 for students/military and $5 for children 6-12). Just show up at the gate and wait for them to let you in – there is no capacity limit, so no need to arrive early.

They conduct the tours on the weekends intentionally since the studio is not in operation, so don’t expect to see any stars or any live action. I’m sure this disappoints many attendees, but the tour was guided by youngsters who work at the studio and their enthusiasm was evident. They informed everyone that pictures would not be tolerated, explaining why my only snapshot is from just beyond the entrance gates. The first thing the guides did was poll our group to see who was a raging fan of “One Tree Hill,” which I never heard of before. The balance of the tour was basically walking through the sets where they film this TV series.

Not a profound adventure by any stretch, but it was fun to walk on the sets and get some insider info on filming these shows. Even though we were instructed not to touch anything on the sets, I confess to flipping a light switch at the beach house which one husband-wife couple on the show apparently owns, so if you watch “One Tree Hill” let me know if the switch in the middle of the three-switch unit by the front door is UP --- they were all down before my vandalism! I knew this was harmless since they had told us nothing on the sets was wired.

After walking through several sets you sit in the screening room for a short promo film and then exit through a pretty lame gift shop. Certainly not a reason to head for Wilmington, but a pleasant diversion if you happen to be in the neighborhood.

I have read countless reviews of the tour over the web for the past several weeks. I was beginning to worry that the tour would be horrible and that I would somehow ruin my holiday in Wilmington. So I took the tour this Saturday. To be quite frank I went to the tour with extremely high expectations. I was ready for a disaster to happen any moment and I had no clue what One Tree Hill even was (they fill you in). That is where I began to realize things were good. There was no limit on tickets and the price of 12 dollars is cheap considering other alternatives in Wilmington. The group was huge and that was a slight turn down but one guide sorted the issue and split the tour to be more comfortable. I have no idea what the other guides were like but our group was lead in my opinion by the best. There was a shaggy guide, a very handsome guide, and a beautiful girl leading our group. I am not old but sometimes I can't hear the guides, I give Screen Gems kudos for addressing the voice adjustment issue. The Handsome guide started our group and ended it he made it very entertaining for other around me. The shaggy looking boy was very informed in his information. I had not a single clue about the show or even heard of it but I found that the guides when you are allowed to look around answer any questions about film. I thought the sets were neat and was happy with what I had seen. We went to what the guides called the screening room. The handsome guide took over at this point and taught the history of the studio and showed a short clip of what was done there. When we exited we could ask questions or leave. There was a few hats and t-shirts to buy if you wanted a souvenir, I got me a little red pin. I would say overall the tour was informative. If you go try to get in the group with the handsome boy with a name that was odd or ask questions to him he is most informative. Take the tour it is fun don't think of it as a normal tour see it as a special privlige to see this stuff because it is.

There were two studio tours that we had to choose from- One at 12:00 and the other at 2:00. We weren’t the only people there when we arrived at 11:15 for the 12:00 tour. We got in line in front of the front office, and then proceeded to watch car after car inter the parking lot. The line behind us grew and grew, and we were silently congratulating ourselves for getting there so early. When the office opened, we bought our $12 ticket, then everyone was split into two groups. Once our tour started, our tour guide told us he’d never seen so many people at one tour. I’d say there were between 40 and 50 people in each of the two groups.

Screen Gems Studios, which is the largest TV and movie production facility East of California, has nine soundstages in all- we got to tour stages 7 and 8. The main production at Screen Gems Studios was One Tree Hill, so between the two stages, we got to see Nathan’s and Haley’s house, Mouth and Skills’ apartment, and the high school. Of course, because it was Easter weekend, there were no actors to be seen anywhere. When we were finished touring the stages, we went behind the scenes and got to see the editing room. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable, as he gave us information on the current season of One Tree Hill and other projects that had been filmed there, such as Domestic Disturbance, Black Knight, 28 Days, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Weekend At Bernies, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and Matlock, among other things. We also got loads of information about filming, lighting, sound, and edition. It was quite interesting.

Although I’d never seen a single episode of One Tree Hill at the time I took the tour, the tour definitely peaked my interest. I’d seen Dawson’s Creek, which had also filmed there, but seeing the actual sites of OTH, along with my sister’s love of the show, made me want to see the show. The only complaint I had about the tour was our photo restrictions. The production company (The CW) wouldn’t allow anyone to take pictures on or around the sets, as they didn’t want any spoilers, so the tour guides were adamant we didn’t take any photos, and if cameras were seen, they’d be confiscated. Needless to say, I didn’t see any cameras.

Since my visit to Wilmington, I have seen every episode of One Tree Hill. It’s fun to recognize things on the TV that I saw in ‘real life’.