film industry

Frank Capra, Jr.: The Godfather of Wilmington Film

Black and white headshot of Frank Capra, Jr.
Headshot of Frank Capra, Jr., undated [1]

Wilmington has been synonymous with the East Coast film industry for over four decades now, since producer Frank Capra, Jr. (1934-2007) [pictured1] arrived in southeast North Carolina in the fall of 1983 to shoot Firestarter (1984), based on the 1980 novel by Stephen King and starring a young Drew Barrymore.

Capra, Jr. eventually decided to form a Wilmington-based company, De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, with Universal Pictures’ production head Dino De Laurentiis (1919-2010). The company would work out of their newly built Carolco Studios, better known as EUE/Screen Gems Studios after its acquisition in 1996. At the same time, Capra, Jr. was named the President of EUE/Screen Gems in Wilmington. The studio facility would change its name again in 2023, when it was bought by Cinespace Studios.

Beyond work, Capra Jr. took quickly to the Port City, buying a house in the Hancock Park area of town and marrying a local, Deborah Ann Sprunt, who had previously been married to Kenneth Sprunt, Jr. of the Sprunt family. Capra, Jr. also joined the Wilmington Rotary Club [pictured2] in March 1997...

April 15, 1915 issue of the Wilmington Rotary Club's newsletter, The Rotary Communicator, featuring new member Frank Capra, Jr.
March 18, 1997, issue of the Rotary Communicator listing Frank Capra, Jr. as a new member of the Wilmington Rotary Club [2]

 

...though per this memo [pictured3] from January 4, 1999, his attendance in the two years since was lax, leading the Attendance Committee to note he should be dropped from the club's membership. However, he was listed again on the club's 1999-2000 roster for that next membership year and did not fall off until 2000-2001.

January 4, 1999 memo from the Rotary Attendance Committee noting Frank Capra, Jr. had exceeded the allowable absences and should be dropped from the club.
January 04, 1999, memo from the Rotary Attendance Committee noting that Capra, Jr. had exceeded the allowable number of absences [3]

 

Capra, Jr. was the son of famed Golden Age director Frank Capra (1897-1991), best known for films like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) and It’s A Wonderful Life (1946). For many years, Capra, Jr. held an annual screening of his father’s holiday classic in town. To learn more about the filming of Firestarter and Capra, Jr.’s time in Wilmington, take a look at the Frank Capra, Jr. Collection.

Sources:

  1. MS 250 Frank Capra, Jr. Collection, Center for Southeast North Carolina Archives and History
  2. MS 215 Herman Blizzard Rotary Archive, Center for Southeast North Carolina Archives and History
  3. MS 215 Herman Blizzard Rotary Archive, Center for Southeast North Carolina Archives and History
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film industry
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