“Banshee,” the much anticipated new television series from creator Alan Ball (“Six Feet Under,” “True Blood”), debuts this Friday at 10 p.m. on Cinemax. The 10-episode series, which shot throughout the Charlotte region, was heavily recruited by the N.C. Film Office and began filming in April 2012 after opening offices in late February. The production is estimated to have had a direct in-state spend in excess of $35 million while creating approximately 4,200 job opportunities including 250 crew positions for the state’s highly-skilled film professionals. ‘Banshee’ centers on ex-con and master thief Lucas Hood, who assumes the identity of the sheriff of the small town of Banshee, Pa., where he continues his criminal ways while being hunted by a team of gangsters from his past.
Location scouting took producers all over the U.S., including Pennsylvania, since the story is set there, but they also considered Canada. “North Carolina is an excellent match for Amish country,” says show runner Greg Yaitanes. Plus, “it was the right mix of having a strong crew base, as well as the tax rebate.” Then there was the look of the greater Charlotte area. “Five towns make Banshee: Monroe, Mooresville, Lincolnton, Gastonia, and Waxhaw,” Yaitanes says. “No one town captured everything that Banshee was, but everything existed in that area, and it allowed us to go to a lot of different places and make that town.” They found Banshee’s police station, bus depot and train depot in Mooresville; its slaughterhouse, a local diner and one character’s house in Gastonia; the crime boss’s mansion in Waxhaw; the Banshee courthouse in Monroe; and a local watering hole in north Charlotte. Sets for select interiors were built on a sound stage in warehouses off Interstate 77. Uptown Charlotte stands in for Harrisburg, Pa., in Episode 4.
Actress Ivana Milicevic rented a furnished apartment in Dilworth from spring till fall and named Soul Gastrolounge in Plaza Midwood, Amelie’s in NoDa, Tony’s Ice Cream in Gastonia, and the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte as some of her local favorites. The actress loved the weather, and loved the people; she found North Carolinians to largely be sweet, whereas Los Angelenos can be “snooty and snarky,” she says. When she left, “I remember thinking, ‘I’m really gonna miss this. I’m gonna miss driving on the street and people being like, ‘Yeah, go ahead! Cut in!’ It’s not like a battle everywhere you go.” She hopes to come back, but time will tell. Cinemax announced a year ago that it had ordered a full 10-episode season, and since the channel’s programming depends less on viewership numbers than on total subscribers – barring a catastrophe – fans of the show will get their 10 episodes.
In addition to the debut of “Banshee,” another N.C.-filmed production, “Stars In Danger: The High Dive,” debuts this week on Fox. Viewers can see the two-hour special, which filmed mostly in Greensboro. The show features reality stars JWoww, Bethany Hamilton and Kim Richards, and actors David Chokacki, Alexandra Paul and Antonio Sabato, Jr., plus NFL star Terrell Owens, and airs tonight (Wed.) at 8 p.m.