Why Shoot in North Carolina?
North Carolina is quickly becoming the fastest-growing new film location in North America, not only because of NASCAR and the spectacular scenery our state has to offer, but due to lower costs of living - and therefore - costs of filming as well. North Carolina is not plagued by the rules of the Screen Actors Guild or any other film industry union, reducing the costs of filming here even more. Recent legislation has even given tax incentives to the film industry in an effort to draw more filmmaking dollars into the state. This means more television series and feature movies are being filmed here, while offering tax breaks and lower overhead (wages) for producers. Simply put, we are the bomb when it comes to filmmaking opportunities!

Several movie studios and TV series have already seized this opportunity. Dawson’s Creek is perhaps the best known series filmed in North Carolina, and many new series are starting as well. Many people are tired of seeing the dry Mediterranean climate of Ventura County, California movie ranches representing the entire United States, and North Carolina represents typical landscapes across America - from woods to mountains.

Why Film at Crescent Ridge?
Crescent Ridge affords several unique settings for the film and television industry at these reduced costs, while offering a wide variety of environments in one compact location. While many are still under development - as time progresses - more and more settings will become available, including North Carolina’s only desert filming environment!

As a model and actor himself, Doug Hanks understands the film, television, and print industries. He can take your ideas and envision various locations on the Preserve to best suit your needs. He has the experience and knowledge to turn your visions into realities - the perfect mise-en-scéne - for your special project; be it movie, television, or film/print advertising.

What Else Does Crescent Ridge Have to Offer?
Located in the heart of the scenic Sauraton Mountains of North Carolina, the unique topography at Crescent Ridge allows for a variety of settings; including a dry portion with thin, rocky soil that is being planted with cold-hardy desert plants such as yuccas, and prickly pear and cholla cacti. This will progress into a miniature desert biome that is ideal for close-up shots that require a desert fore/background. Similarly, a grassy hilltop/ridge can serve for prairie close-ups or even a green hill in Ireland! With today’s green/blue screen technology being used more and more for computer generated backgrounds, these Midwestern and Western foregrounds are perfect for scenes where interaction with these topographies is important, but doesn’t warrant a cross country trip. Keeping it local will keep costs down and profits up.

More than half a mile of winding creek borders three of the eight boundaries of the property, including a section of whitewater that descends twenty feet, in a step-like series of falls. Other portions of the creek are shallow and quiet, while some are deeper and faster moving.

The woodland environments include pure pine forest, mixed hardwood forest, exposed ledge, steep wooded hillsides and hollows, dirt roads, several glades (including a rock glade), and rhododendron and mountain laurel. Other unique features are the vertical and horizontal cave openings, as these are virtually non-existent elsewhere in North Carolina. There are also enough pines on the property to serve as fencing material for stacked Appalachian rail fences should the scene require it. It gets cold enough to snow in the wintertime, so depending on the weather; you may be able to get snow shots as well.

There are two major panoramic views from the Crescent Ridge location; one of Hanging Rock Mountain, and the other of Moore’s Knob. These afford striking backgrounds, and the view of Moore’s Knob is unique to say the least. Since these vistas use a neighboring state park for the backdrop, the views are house and building-free. A third direction affords due-east misty valley sunrises, that are typical of hazy Appalachian spring and summer mornings.

Also on the property, is a magnificent ancient white oak tree, with sturdy horizontal branches ideal for a swing, or even a noose for Old South lynching scenes. While a bit on the morbid side, sometimes scripts will call for just a tree, and we have it.

As the dawn redwoods themselves begin to mature, they will provide a unique location for simulating alien topography. Nowhere else in the world will there be such a proliferation of trees with contorted and otherworldly-appearing trunks for use as a backdrop. They will provide an environment that can be used not only for a forest on another planet, but for a spooky or haunted setting here on Earth as well. 

With so many settings available in one location, we can help you achieve the mise-en-scéne that you require for your particular outdoor and landscape shots. Crescent Ridge can offer the Eastern filmmaker locations that represent not only the mountains of Appalachia, but Kentucky cave country, a green hilltop representing Ireland, Scotland, or the American prairie, and the desert southwest of this country; all in a compact package known as the Crescent Ridge Dawn Redwoods Preserve. Let us help you make your filming visions a reality.

                      

                
      

          

          

          

          

          

          

Still under development



Still under development



    Pics coming soon!



These views are being reclaimed from tree growth, 
and should be available for filming soon.



 

More pics coming soon!

 








Pics coming soon!



Still under development. This was the desert area 
in 1997 when it was first begun. More pics coming soon!




Updated pics coming Spring/Summer 2006


Pics coming soon!

More pics coming soon!


  


                   

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