This November, a blue plaque will be unveiled at Ava Gardner's former London apartment. The iconic film star from North Carolina was deeply in love with her home state which is now famous for making movies.

The state has a long distinguished film history that continues to thrive. More than 800 movies have been filmed in North Carolina since 1980 including stand-out films like The Color Purple, Days of Thunder, Forrest Gump, A Walk to Remember, Last of the Mohicans, The Green Mile and Cold Mountain.

From mountains to pristine coast lines with quaint small towns and thriving cities, North Carolina makes the perfect background for any film. Feature films ranging from The Hunger Games to Dirty Dancing continue to give movie buffs plenty of action when they visit North Carolina. 

Most recently North Carolina served as the backdrop for the blockbuster films Iron Man 3, Tammy, The Conjuring and The Hunger Games.

TV fans will also recognise North Carolina; for 6 seasons, it was home to Dawson's Creek followed by 9 seasons for One Tree Hill and 3 seasons for Under The Dome. Additionally, the state was the home of the first three seasons of the critically acclaimed series Homeland and Banshee.

Coming out this year, Max Steel, The Disappointment Rooms, and Masterminds have also been filmed in North Carolina. Masterminds (released September 30, 2016) is inspired by the true story of a $17 million Loomis Fargo armoured car company robbery in Charlotte in 1997, the largest cash robbery in the United States at the time. Find out about the film locations in Asheville and create your own Masterminds itinerary.

The state offers a variety of trails to visit its filming locations such as the Nicholas Sparks Tour of the North Carolina Coast and the Hunger Games Trail.

• The Hunger Gameswas shot on locations and sets from Concord to Barnardsville, including an abandoned mill village in Hildebran, DuPont State Recreational Forest near Brevard, and a warehouse hub in Shelby. There are also tours of District 12 and Arena sites in Charlotte and Asheville.
• It's easy to see why Nicholas Sparks loves living in and writing about North Carolina. It's also easy to enjoy the real-life settings that inspire his bestselling novels, thanks to charming historic towns, quiet beaches, tidal rivers and pretty marshes as far as the eye can see. North Carolina settings and film locations from The Longest Ride will take visitors from the mountains to the coast, taking in several places they will likely recognize from the movie.

Affectionately referred to as "Hollywood East" by locals, Wilmington, NC's Historic River District and island beaches is known around Tinseltown as a perfect backdrop to film a masterpiece. On the streets along the Cape Fear River, a dozen or so different Wilmington tours depart by land and water and include film-focused segway tours and Hollywood walking tours.

North Carolina was the birthplace of actress Ava Gardner who regularly came back to visit her family and get away from Hollywood's madness after she gained incredible fame.

Each year her hometown of Smithfield celebrates her life and career by having the Ava Gardner Festival on the first weekend of October. Alternatively, visitors can visit sites linked to Ava's life on the Ava Gardner Heritage Trail all year round.

Ava moved to London in 1968 where she died on January 25, 1990. English Heritage decided to honour her with a blue plaque - to be unveiled at her former London apartment on November 4th 2016.

Seven Days in May, starring Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas and Ava Gardner will be featured at BFI Southbank in London to mark the occasion.

***

For more information on films in North Carolina, please visit the North Carolina Film Office website and for film trails visit https://www.visitnc.com/film

To find more information on North Carolina please visit www.uk.visitnc.com and on social media follow www.facebook.com/visitNC and @VisitNC on Twitter and Instagram.

ENDS

Note to editors:

For more information on this press release please contact Marine Buisson marine@ttmworld.co.uk or Kirsty Dillury kirsty@ttmworld.co.uk or telephone +44 (0)208 460 3582.

For travel trade enquiries please contact Duncan McCubbin Duncan@ttmworld.co.uk

Photo credits:

Dirty Dancing: Great American Films Limited Partnership