Saturday, May 13, 2000

WILMINGTON, NC -- Fincannon & Associates Inc., an Emmy award-winning casting agency based in Wilmington, donated industry-related materials from more than 300 film and television projects to the Film Studies Program at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

Included in the gift are scripts in various draft forms, personal and business correspondence, production memoranda, casting reports, acting contracts and other materials from feature films such as Firestarter, Blue Velvet, Days of Thunder and the television shows American Gothic and Matlock.

"As UNCW prepares to offer a film studies major, this collection will be immensely useful to faculty and students for research and instruction," said Ellen Walters, director of the Film Studies Program at UNCW. "This gift will provide opportunities to develop courses in such subjects as North Carolina independent filmmaking and the business of filmmaking. We are very grateful for the generosity of the Fincannons."

The university will house the materials in the Special Collections wing of Randall Library.

Fincannon & Associates have participated in numerous film and television projects including Muppets in Space, I Know What You Did Last Summer and the current release Rules of Engagement. In 1998, the Fincannons received the Emmy Award for Outstanding Casting in a Mini-series or Special in recognition of their work on the HBO mini-series From the Earth to the Moon. In addition to feature films, the agency has provided casting for all three seasons of the television series Dawson's Creek as well as many commercials.

For more information, contact Ms. Walters at 910/962-7389.