SALISBURY — The new TV series “Sleepy Hollow” will shoot in Wilmington but could film scenes in other North Carolina cities, including Salisbury, officials said Thursday.
“Sleepy Hollow” chose Wilmington as a base for the series for logistical reasons, not because some Salisbury business owners complained that they lost money during filming of the pilot in March, said Aaron Syrett, director of the N.C. Film Office.
Salisbury was in the running to be the series’ hero location, or the main location that ties the whole story together, Syrett said.
“It was a high possibility because they’d used it once already,” he said. “They felt Wilmington gave them the best chance to produce the show within their budget and time constraints.”
Twentieth Century Fox also chose Wilmington for fast access to crew and creative staff, he said.
Syrett said in extensive discussions with the studio about location, 20th Century Fox never mentioned Salisbury merchants who were upset about losing customers when downtown streets were closed for five nights.
“That was never brought up to me,” Syrett said. “Not once.”
Scripts are not complete for the supernatural thriller that will air on Fox on Mondays this fall, so it’s not clear yet where crews will film, Syrett said.
“Sleepy Hollow” will film as much as possible in Wilmington to save time and money, he said, but scouts are looking for additional locations now.
“It’s very possible they could branch out further,” he said.
The supernatural thriller filmed extensively in downtown Salisbury for the pilot. Crews transformed the front lawn at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church into a Revolutionary War cemetery.
Beth Petty, director of the Charlotte Regional Film Commission, said 20th Century Fox is not scheduled to return to Salisbury but she would not rule it out.
“You never know,” Petty said. “You don’t know creatively where the storyline is going to go.”
“Sleepy Hollow” has moved into offices and soundstages at EUE Screen Gems Studios, off of 23rd Street in Wilmington, with production expected to begin in late July and to last the remainder of the year, according to the Wilmington Regional Film Commission and the N.C. Film Office.
Read more in Friday’s Post.