WRAP BEER!

Robert Hoelen is one of many yankee transfers that joined the movie experiment “down south” in Wilmington. His New Jersey dialect echoed within the stages and rang out in the alleys between. Robert is the proverbial class clown - one of many at 1223 North 23rd Street - but his sense of humor was always a bit oversized, affronting some on occasion, but always causing laughter. The WRAP BEER! poster...

Long, long ago . . . before pagers, cellular phones and the internet . . . . It’s 1985, with stages built and electrified - and shops, warehouses and offices up-fitted and occupied - DEG Studios was now capable of hosting numerous motion picture productions simultaneously, and it was doing just that. But to keep the cameras rolling, and productions connected to world beyond, telephones and telepho...

The WRAP BEER community is forever thankful for Gerald’s dedication, effort, and success!!! Theme music by Turbo Pro Project .

If the movie studio at 1223 North 23rd Street is anything - it’s an engineering marvel. Exposing motion picture film requires a significant amount of light, and therefore an enormous number of electrons arriving at the right place at the right time. Six stages that became nine - and then ten - needing studio distribution, house lights and air conditioning for the sub-tropic climate of the Cape Fea...

It may be said that any great cinematographer is only as good as their gaffer. And many cameramen have enjoyed having Lynn ”LD” Dodson by their side. And whereas the movie industry can often alter one’s personality, either for better or worse, LD may be the very exception to that norm. In a business where every job, every day, and every minute is different . . . LD has managed to remain the same S...

The long roads from Rome, Toronto, and Shelby, North Carolina come to intersect in Wilmington where Jock Brandis has been seen directing traffic. Recruited by Dino himself, Jock arrived on “Cat’s Eye” and began to employ his many talents - wrought with his own particular brand of Canadian persnicketiness. Very few people on this planet can carry the accolade of genius - and most folks on the Cape...

In the “mouse maze” of offices at DEG Studios, brothers Vick and Johnny Griffin were often mistaken for each other by the sound of their voice. Beyond the studio gate, the Brothers Griffin pioneered the art of Location Management in a town that was reckoning with a new visitor. Movies are made on the studio lot - and even more so - on the streets, neighborhoods, and homes of the host city. And tha...

From their tobacco-enhanced headquarters at 1223 North 23rd Street, The Telemedia Group offered a myriad of support services - not only to the burgeoning film industry - but to the larger community as well. Mike De Vries Francine DeCoursey and crew served up video production and editing, EPK, and Screening Room Transfer and Projection. Meanwhile, Francine set her own “win win” course for utilizing...

After meeting Tantar on the set of Firestarter, Fred Pickler strolled into the film industry as a savvy supplier of specialized props. In doing so, he wandered into one of the most iconic “badman” performances in cinematic history – the role of Detective Tom Gordon, aka Yellowman - in David Lynch’s Blue Velvet. And such serendipity could not have happened to a nicer guy and one of our finer exampl...

Grip /ɡrɪp/ noun 1 a:  a strong or tenacious grasp had a good  grip  on the tennis racket b:  strength in gripping c:  manner or style of gripping the balanced  grip  of an expert golfer 2 a:  a firm tenacious hold typically giving control, mastery, or understanding has the country in his  grip b:  mental grasp can't seem to get a grip on...

Handpicked by Dino and Martha to manage the day-to-day operations and outreach, Jayme Bednarczyk’s genuine warmth and kindness permeated the DEG Studio lot from the very beginning. In so doing, she set the tone for a growing crowd of young filmmakers that were “ learning the ropes while swinging from them. ” Meanwhile, a small town on the the Cape Fear needed the same nurturing when the circus cam...

Dr. Jones returns to WRAP BEER! with more tales of the wild, the weird, and the deep. Scott Davis blasts off from the dunes of Wrightsville Beach before landing a loving tribute to the life and work of John Verardi, first assistant cameraman - as told by John’s friends and the very community of WRAP BEER! Cheers to Johnny V! With Chuck Potter on the guest bar stool. Theme music by Turbo Pro Projec...

N New Episode Drops March 25 and Weekly Thereafter! 007 - “The Dr. Is In Again!” - Tom Jones, Jr. with Chuck Potter on the guest bar stool. 008 - “What Can We Do for Each Other?” - Jayme Bednarczyk 009 - “There’s No ‘I’ in Grip!” Jeffrey “Moose” Howery, Bobby Huber, Dennis Zoppe 010 - “gelber Mann!” - Fred Pickler with Vernon Harrell on the guest bar stool. 011 - “Telemedia Saves the World!” - Fra...

Guest: CHUCK POTTER Hailing from Mississippi, Louisiana and Nashville . . . Chuck Potter passed though Wilmington on his way to New York City . . . and an esteemed career as a set decorator. But he keeps coming back!!!! Chuck’s stories are as rich and delicious as the homemade gumbo he serves up at his home in Wilmington. Buy Them A BEER! - Folks who were mentioned on WRAP BEER! Alex McDowell Barr...

GUEST: TOM JONES, Jr. Mr. Jones joined the migration from Shelby and spent four decades building scenery in Wilmington and beyond. Famously cool and calm in the most strenuous conditions, ie. “ The Abyss , ” Mr. Jones has finally become . . . well . . . famous. Dino DeLaurentis RIP Martha Delaurentis RIP Alicia Keyes Atilla Salih Yücer Barbara D'Alessandro Bill Collins William Ladd Skinner Bob Kno...

Guests: MICHELLE JOHNSON & ROBBIE BECK With ten feature films “in-the-can,” and five more being produced, DEG Studios in Wilmington was now a beacon of hope for wanna-be filmmakers in the south and beyond. And yes, giant apes were harmed. . . . Buy Them A BEER! - Folks who were mentioned on WRAP BEER! Dino DeLaurentis RIP Martha Delaurentis RIP Adrian Lyne Alex Thomson RIP Beth Giles Brendan S...

Guests: VERNON HARRELL & JOHN BANKSON After Dino & David Lynch’s “Dune” flopped at the box office, Lynch arrived in Wilmington to produce “Blue Velvet” on a drastically reduced budget. Cinematic history was made, and a 60 lb festering Amberjack was reeled in . . . . Buy Them A BEER! - Folks who were mentioned on WRAP BEER! Dino DeLaurentis RIP Martha Delaurentis RIP Fred Elms Edward ‘Tanta...

Guests: JEFFREY SCHLATTER & RUSTY EDMONSON “If it hadn’t had happened already, I would tell you that it couldn’t be done.” - Bill Arnold, NC Film Office. In the 1970’s, Earl Owensby filmed over 35 feature films at his home-grown studio in Shelby , NC. When Dino Delaurentiis came to North Carolina, he first visited The EO Corporation before deciding to settle in Wilmington. He was followed by d...

HOSTS SCOTT DAVIS AND JOHN D. KRETSCHMER On July 13, 1983, the Morning Star headline read, “Firestarter” Set to Film on Location in Wilmington.” The town would never be the same. Hosts SCOTT DAVIS and JOHN D. KRETSCHMER introduce “WRAP BEER!” and recount their very first days, and the dawning of a new era on the Cape Fear. Buy Them A BEER! - Folks who were mentioned on WRAP BEER! Dino DeLaurentis...