SPARTANBURG — Two South Carolina natives are teaming up to bring a film and television production studio to the Upstate.
Salt Run Entertainment, led by Broadway actor and director Charles Randolph-Wright and Spartanburg native John Gramling III, will establish a residency at Spartanburg Community College’s Spark Center, a business incubation facility on the college’s campus in Duncan.
The facility will serve as the company’s headquarters and hold a filming studio, writers’ room, warehouse for set design and the company’s offices. Through its partnership with SCC, the company will connect with students and provide opportunities to learn about the film and television industries through internships and workshops.
Spartanburg County Councilmember Monier Abusaft said in a press release that the partnership is “the very reason why Spartanburg County” invests in resources such as the Spark Center and that it could provide opportunities for minority and Black creatives.
“The Spark Center has been a launchpad for manufacturing and distribution companies, but with the arrival of Salt Run Entertainment, it is now also a catalyst for our creative economy,” Abusaft said.
Randolph-Wright, a native of York, has worked on Broadway as well as in film and television. He said establishing the company is about more than “producing great stories — it’s about creating an ecosystem for them to thrive in the Carolinas.”
“For me, this is a homecoming. My career has taken me across the world, but my roots are here in South Carolina,” he said. “We want to inspire students, empower communities, and prove that the next generation of entertainment leaders can come from this region.”
The company is also partnered with the Urban League of the Upstate, a nonprofit focused on workforce development, education and housing. The two will collaborate to expand workforce development initiatives around the entertainment industry.
This announcement comes as the South has seen the film industry leaving to head overseas to minimize costs. Atlanta, once a hotspot for the entertainment industry, has felt this migration the most, but so has South Carolina.
Despite USA Network’s newest TV series, “The Rainmaker,” being set in Charleston, the show was mostly filmed in Ireland to save money.
While one partnership won’t single-handedly rectify this, it could help Spartanburg’s infant entertainment industry grow homegrown talent. Matthew Storm, the director of the South Carolina Film Commission, said the partnership will expand the state’s entertainment industry workforce and economic footprint.
“The hope for everyone is that Salt Run Entertainment brings high-quality productions to the Upstate that can both appeal to communities and incubate a new job market,” Storm said. “This activity will show the Upstate — and lawmakers statewide — how film can be a powerful economic engine for South Carolina.”
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.postandcourier.com ’
