As 'Dawson's Creek' turns 20, a look back

WILMINGTON — To TV fans around the world, the Port City has gone by many names — Tree Hill, Sleepy Hollow and Chester’s Mill, to name a few.

But for six seasons beginning 20 years ago this Saturday, Wilmington was lovingly known as Capeside, Massachusetts. The fictional small town was the home of “Dawson’s Creek,” the WB teen drama that counted future stars like Katie Holmes and Michelle Williams among its young cast.

It starred James Van Der Beek as Dawson Leery, a film frantic who — when he didn’t have his eye pressed to the lens of a camera — spent his time pining for the girl across the creek, Joey (Holmes). But like any good teen romance, his crush became complicated in the pilot when Jen (Williams), an intriguing big city girl unsure about small town life, moved in next door. Also in the mix was Pacey (Josh Jackson), the lovable goof who would eventually turn the love triangle into a square.

The series was a massive hit for The WB when it premiered Jan. 20, 1998, launching its core four cast into stardom and putting Wilmington on the map for a new audience it hadn’t always courted — teens.

“Starting with ‘Dawson’s Creek,' we kind of got associated with teen dramas,” said Bill Vassar, executive vice president of EUE/Screen Gems Studios, where it filmed all six seasons. “It was good juju if you filmed here.”

Those projects — “One Tree Hill,” “I Know What You Did Last Summer” (also written by “Dawson’s Creek” creator Kevin Williamson), “A Walk to Remember” — has since become some of the most popular projects to come out of Wilmington.

But beyond a specific audience, “Dawson’s Creek” had a ripple effect for the local film industry.

The show ushered in an era of episodic television to the industry that had previously been churning out made-for-TV movies at the rate of 20-plus a year in the mid-1990s.

“The biggest thing is the show established us as a real production center for TV,” said Johnny Griffin, director of the Wilmington Regional Film Commission. “When it was done, within the industry, there was a term coined — the ‘Dawson’s Creek’ model.’ ”

For other productions possibly eyeing Wilmington a place to film, the success of “Dawson’s Creek” proved a show could be picked up by a network, brought to town, relocate its actors and hire 95 percent local crew, Griffin said.

Paving the way

When they were in town, the cast members were residents and they could be seen around town just like everyone else. Van Der Beek taught basketball at Laney High School, Jackson and Holmes frequented the downtown bar scene, and Williams performed in local theater productions, including “The Vagina Monologues” in 2002.

Griffin said it was all an effort to prove that a project could exist in Wilmington, far from the bright lights of Hollywood, and still turn out a good product.

“The only way they can do this is find a place where they can make this a homegrown production,” he said. “Once we did that, it paved the way for all that came after it.”

Coming home

For local actors, the series also supplied steady work that lasted longer than the shorter movie productions.

Local resident Nina Repeta was a series regular on the show for the first four seasons.

Despite growing up in Wilmington and living close to where Dawson’s famous creek overlook was shot, Repeta actually auditioned for the show after moving to Los Angeles.

Having been a day player on several episodes of “Matlock” in Wilmington, she was told she would never break out if she didn’t head west. But when she arrived, she quickly got an audition for a little pilot called “Dawson’s Creek.”

“It was a God thing,” Repeta said. “What actress goes to Hollywood only to get a project six months later that takes me back home to work one creek over from where I lived?”

Repeta starred as Bessie, the older sister and legal guardian of Joey. From the first time she was handed a script, Repeta recalled being moved and impressed by the story.

“I knew I was part of something very very special,” she said.

In particular, Repeta fondly remembers one of most memorable scenes from the pilot when Bessie puts lipstick on Joey -- a warm, sisterly moment she remembers as setting the tone for their relationship and the show.

“It is amazing to see what happens from that moment on,” she said. “It just pioneered on so many levels.”

'Indelible mark on our city'

The show became a lightning rod for conversation during its run, turning heads with its frank discussion of sex, depiction of interracial relationships and, famously, airing the first romantic gay kiss in primetime TV featuring series co-star Kerr Smith.

For many locals, the show's pioneering steps for television were only surpassed by the way in which the show acted as a weekly promotion for the region.

The first episode features bucolic images of Hewlett's Creek (standing in for the title creek), marinas and local businesses around the region. Highlighting the area became a trademark of the series, which took cameras just about everywhere in its six seasons as the show evolved and needed more urban locations to folow the cast to college. UNCW became a filming location, as did the business that would become Hell's Kitchen in downtown Wilmington (which was purchased from the show and retains much of the memorbilia inside).

Martin Eckhardt worked as a stand-in for Jackson and several other actors for the show's entire run and remembers the set as a "family." Looking back on the show now, he said he still remembers the first days on set when the show was finding its voice and fanbase.

"It seemed to strike a cord with so many people," Eckhardt said. "You could see it in the people who came to visit the set. To this day, it is still generating interest overseas and it is gaining a whole new audience as young people find it."

With two decades now past since the first episode premiered, Repeta said just thinking about it makes her feel "seasoned." But mostly, she said she is grateful for "Dawson's Creek" because it gave the local crew base a chance to prove how capable it was of pulling off a television series.

"It made an indelible mark on our city and what we can do as a community," Repeta said. "We turned out episodes with beautiful vistas of our area that made people wanted to come here. It took Hollywood coming here for us to prove that, but we did it."

All 128 episodes of “Dawsons Creek” are available to stream on Hulu.

Reporter Hunter Ingram can be reached at 910-343-2327 or Hunter.Ingram@StarNewsOnline.com.