Western North Carolina is no stranger to the film industry.

Forest mountain ranges, silver-streaming waterfalls and luxurious settings like the Biltmore House are great attractions for film directors as well as tourists. Asheville, Boone and numerous mountain towns and communities have served as settings for such films as “The Fugitive,” “Forrest Gump,” “The Last of the Mohicans,” and “The Green Mile.” Asheville has hosted its own film festival, an Amnesty International Film Festival and, most recently, a 48-hour Film Festival in July. Now with Highlands establishing itself as a film festival locale, there’s still another venue for filmmakers to show and share their work.

Even so, bringing movie studio executives, directors and big-time actors to the area takes a lot of behind-the-scenes work, according to Mary Trimarco, director of the Western North Carolina Film Commission, which partners with AdvantageWest to promote business in the region.

In addition to the beauty of the mountains, Western North Carolina needs a crew base of skilled labor — camera operators, grips, costume and set designers, make-up artists and technicians — to make a movie.

That infrastructure is growing, Trimarco says, and the region can pool from nearby Charlotte and a growing number of people moving into the area from Los Angeles.

“It really was slow the last few years,” Trimarco said.

After a slew of movies in the 1990s, big budget movie investments seemed harder to land in Western North Carolina for several reasons — lack of economic incentives, movie industry trends, regulations, the need for skilled labor, and studio management decisions. Then, there’s the “Romanian effect” — the now famous debacle in which Director Anthony Minghella decided to film “Cold Mountain” in Romania despite the fact that the real Cold Mountain is set in Haywood County.

However, things could be turning around thanks to a film incentive package in this year’s state budget. The incentive would allow film studios, independent organizations or commercial production companies to receive a 15-percent rebate from the state if they spend a minimum of $250,000 in North Carolina on a production. The state currently offers an 83 percent tax break off the 6.5 percent sales tax for filmmakers who purchased or rented items as part of a film made in North Carolina. These kinds of incentives help promote North Carolina as a film-friendly state and usher in millions of dollars in local business as film crews work and produce in the area.

“We could become very busy here,” says Trimarco. She adds that there are other sources of funding that will be open to Western North Carolina filmmakers such as Advantage Fund, a grassroots grant of a few thousand dollars to help with the start-up costs of making films and media projects. It’s patterned after the Austin Film Society’s grant program, which has been a successful model for up-and-coming indie filmmakers. Austin is the site for South by Southwest, a highly successful film and music festival.

AdvantageWest and the North Carolina Film Commission also continue to market the area with the Web site “wncfilm.net,” which includes a host of information for would-be filmmakers, actors and those interested in getting involved in the filmmaking business. There are guidelines on state regulations concerning filming (work permits, filming on state roads or highways, employee issues, mobile catering for film crews, etc.) as well as tips on becoming an entry level production assistant, being an extra in a film, and adding your property to a film location list in case filmmakers want to use it as a potential filming site.

According to Trimarco, still another promising opportunity will be forming a new collaboration between the Winston-Salem-based N.C. School of the Arts and Western Carolina University that will open up additional funding for independent filmmakers and commercial projects.

In addition, the new $30-million, 122,000-square-foot Fine and Performing Arts Center at Western Carolina University will soon be available for major performances as well as a new film program being created there.

Meanwhile, Haywood Community College is into the third year of its associate arts degree in film and video production to train the next generation of technicians, directors and producers. The program teaches students the whole process of filmmaking from conception to scripting to casting, production and even distribution.

Edwin Dennis, the HCC instructor who leads this program, has about 25 students enrolled in film classes as well as another 25 or so enrolled in a film studies class that brings in students from nearby Tuscola High School.

Dennis, a native of Boone who started making films with his brother at the age of 8, has worked for a film production company in Hickory, studied screenwriting at Columbia University, ran a production company in Boone and worked for the WNC Film Commission. With his love of filmmaking and the real-world experience to know it’s a tough industry to succeed in, Dennis is constantly giving his students advice on new projects, helping them network with area production companies, and entering their work in local film competitions. One HCC student-led production, “The Wild Wild Waist,” won “Best Use of a Landmark” at the 48 Hour Film Festival in Asheville in July.

“We’re a very hands-on program here at HCC,” Dennis says. “I try to keep the students producing as much as possible.”

The college has a 16-millimeter package, lighting systems, and editing suites. The long-term goal for Dennis is to have his students create and produce a full-length feature film. Rather than wait for a film company to come to the area, his students would create the film here.

“We don’t wait for people to bring it to us; we build it on our own,” Dennis says.

By attracting local talent, encouraging independent film entrepreneurs, building quality hands-on college programs, and offering economic incentives, Western North Carolina’s film industry is setting the scene for lights, camera and action at a theatre near you.

(Michael Beadle can be reached at beadlepoet@yahoo.com.)