“One Tree Hill” creator Mark Schwahn said in an e-mail that the drama will have completed 130 episodes at the end of its sixth season, two more than “Dawson’s Creek.”

If a seventh season materialized on the CW network, then “One Tree Hill” would total 152 episodes.

And what’s the status of that seventh season? Schwahn was evasive, saying only that he has a contract to run “One Tree Hill” for a seventh season and he would love to be able to do that.

via ‘One Tree Hill’ gets 2 more episodes than ‘Creek’ :: WRAL.com.

The sixth season premieres tonight. Producers shot the fifth episode of the new season — titled “You dug your own grave, now lay in it” — at the Crown Coliseum on Aug. 13. The episode, which is scheduled to air Sept. 29, centers around the character of Nathan Scott and his struggle to reclaim his basketball career.

Fans will remember that Nathan (played by James Lafferty) was nearly paralyzed in a fight in season five. His return to basketball will be a big part of the new season.

The show, which is filmed in Wilmington, is set in fictional Tree Hill, a small North Carolina town. The drama focuses on the lives of five characters, including actor Chad Michael Murray, who is central to the show’s season finale cliffhanger. At the end of last season, his character, Lucas, asked one of the lead female characters to marry him in Las Vegas. Who he proposed to will be answered this season.

The Observer was given access to the set during the show’s short stint in Fayetteville and saw how producers transformed the Crown arena into a TV-ready basketball court. The changes were subtle, but the Hollywood mystique hung in the air.

We spoke with Lafferty and the show’s executive producer Greg Prange about the show — and what little they could reveal about the new season. The following are excerpts.

Observer: How does filming in Wilmington as opposed to Los Angeles shape the show?

Prange: You can’t really create North Carolina in Los Angeles. It’s a very odd reality.

We’ve always found that the river and the water and the beaches — all those things are characters in our show as much as the characters are.

Observer: What should fans expect for next season?

Prange: I can’t give any of that away. I never do that, because they would kill me if I did.

They should expect a pretty good roller-coaster ride. We got a lot of stuff happening. I think it’s probably one of the best openings of the season we’ve had.

Observer: How did jumping the story four years last year help the show creatively?

Prange: There was a lot of nervousness by the studio and network in the process of doing that, but we felt our show was so advanced in a strange way. Our kids, when they were in high school, were already getting married. They were already having babies, so it’s like when you go to college you’re not going to be doing anything different. I think we were successful in doing it. I think the audience responded to it, and we’re back for season six.

Observer: To what do you attribute the show’s longevity?

Prange: Mark Schwahn created the show. He guides our ship completely. We have good stories with a lot of heart, and we have an extraordinarily talented cast. If the audience wants to come back and see the characters because they are invested in the stories, then you’re doing your job.

Observer: Music has always been a big part of the show. Will there be another musical act you hope to launch? (Last year, singer Kate Voegele saw a jump in sales after playing a recurring character on the show.)

Prange: It’s too soon right now. We haven’t really done that too much, though we have a pretty good plan for things we want to accomplish. I can’t really talk about it now because it hasn’t happened, and I’d hate to jinx it.

James Lafferty has played Nathan Scott since the show debuted in September 2003. His character is balancing family life with a wife and young son and a comeback to basketball.

Observer: Do you think your high school basketball background helped you get the part on the series?

Lafferty: Somewhat. If I hadn’t played basketball, it probably would have been a bit harder for me to convince the producers that I was right for the role.

I went through the entire audition process. Then the last actual test was a basketball test and I passed that pretty well.

Observer: Is that really you dunking on the show?

Lafferty: Yeah, that’s me. I requested not to have a double used. I can generally do most of things that they want me to.

Observer: What can fans expect of your character in the new season?

Lafferty: A Nathan with a renewed sense of purpose and a guy that is really there for his family and sort of on a mission to get his life back to where he once thought it would be.

Observer: What other projects are you working on?

Lafferty: I did a film — a sequel to “Donnie Darko.” I don’t actually know what it’s going to be titled right now. It’s in the post-production process, and we’ll see what happens with that.

Observer: What have you enjoyed most about being part of “One Tree Hill”?

Lafferty: Just the experiences. I started the show when I was pretty young — at 17. I’m 23 now, so just the growth process and learning about my craft and learning about industry, and also making friends along the way. It’s been an amazing experience.

Observer: What’s it like working on a show that’s lasted six seasons?

Lafferty: It’s great. Not a lot of television shows make it that far. Not a lot of television shows shoot 100-plus episodes. It’s really special to look back on that and see what an accomplishment it’s been for everybody involved.

Observer: Why do think the show has endured?

Lafferty: I don’t think you can really peg any one thing, but I think one thing that’s been instrumental in keeping us on the air and keeping us relevant is how in touch we are with our fan base and how well we sort of cater to their needs.

We have all been really good about reaching out to the fans and trying to do signings and trying to do contests — really making it interactive. I think that’s helped us hold on to our core fan base and hopefully recruit some new fans.

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If you are looking to be among the first people to ‘The Secret Life of Bees’, which stars Jennifer Hudson, Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, and Sophie Okonedo, you will have to get a ticket at the Toronto Film Festival, where it will make its world premiere.

Also featured in the film are Tristan Wilds, Nate Parker, Paul Bettany, and Hilarie Burton.

The festival will run from September 4 through September 13. Also showing there will be Spike Lee’s ‘Miracle at St. Anna’, and Guy Ritchie’s ‘RocknRolla’ with Idris Elba and Thandie Newton.

Directed by Gina Prince Bythewood, the film is based on a 2002 bestselling novel by American author Sue Monk Kidd.

Set in South Carolina in 1964, story centers on Lily Owens (Fanning), who escapes her lonely life and troubled relationship with her father by running away with her caregiver and only friend (Hudson) to a South Carolina town that holds the secret to her mother’s past.Latifah, Okonedo and Keys play the three sisters

http://www.blackvoices.com/blogs/2008/07/11/the-secret-life-of-bees-to-premiere-at-toronto-film-festival/

Hosted by Justin Timberlake, the annual ceremony deals out awards to athletes using fan-based voting.

The complete list of presenters is as follows: Lance Armstrong, Jason Bateman, David Beckham, Kristen Bell, Sophia Bush, Ashanti, Zac Efron, Brendan Fraser, Samuel L. Jackson, Jet Li, Steve Nash, David Ortiz, Candace Parker, Danica Patrick, Annika Sorenstam, Kate Walsh and Luke Wilson.

ESPN said more presenters may be announced in the coming weeks.

The show will be taped July 16 at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles and televised on ESPN at 9 p.m. on July 20.

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This year, the money raised at the event went to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Wilmington Family YMCA and Winnie’s Garden.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for fans of the show to meet the cast and I think it’s for a great cause,” said Chloe Glenn a 21-year-old fan from New Jersey.

She and her friend, Michelle DuBois, 24, from Atlanta, have attended the games for the past two years. Other fans came from as far away as Canada, Ohio and Florida. The winners of a recent Macy’s Weekend in Wilmington contest attended, too. After the game, they were on their way to a party with the cast and a private concert by musician and fifth season guest star Kate Voegele.

The night before the game, DuBois and Glenn got their own special encounter. While walking around downtown Wilmington, they ran into Joe Manganiello, who plays Owen the bartender this season. To their surprise, he stopped and talked with them.

“They’re just good people, down to earth,” DuBois said of the cast.

DuBois and Glenn were among the 1,300 fans who paid $25 a ticket to see the cast and crew. Tickets, which went on sale more than a month ago, sold out in less than 10 minutes. Saturday’s game began at 11 a.m., but many fans showed up hours in advance and many stayed late into the afternoon.

The game, a face-off between the “old” and “new” lineups of Tree Hill Ravens (the series’ fictional high-school team), started out tough for Lafferty’s home team. The actor, who won his high school’s MVP award in basketball, wore his character’s old black jersey.

Helping him out were co-stars Antwon Tanner (who plays Skills), Stephen Colletti (Chase), Vaughn Wilson (Fergie) and others.

The newbies, who included Manganiello and wore white jerseys, racked up points early on. Laffety’s team fought back to end the first half 40-37.

But the momentum did not last. The gamed ended with the new cast members pulling off 89 points to the old school-ers’ 83.

It probably did not help that Brundage, Sophia Bush (Brooke), Lee Norris (Mouth) and the show’s creator, Mark Schwahn, had microphones on the sidelines and were giving the players a hard time.

“The new Ravens have the lead, but the old Ravens have more screen time,” Schwahn announced at one point to the crowd. “But I think if the new Ravens continue to have the lead, they’ll have even less screen time.”

It’s likely most fans will not remember the details of the game, however. After the two 20-minute halves, most of the 1,300 fans queued up to wait (and wait) to seek autographs from cast members armed with uncapped Sharpies. The cast signed everything from DVDs and inflatable pink flamingoes to posters and the shirts on fans’ backs.

Meanwhile, crew members stood in the center of the court and auctioned off items from the set. The first item, a photo with the cast in attendance, went for $1,000 cash.

Scores of happy teenage girls walked out of Cape Fear Community College’s Shwartz Center giggling and firmly clutching their autographs.

“I expected chaos,” said 17-year-old fan Elizabeth Reese from Virginia. This was her first game. “I watched all season, religiously.”

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“Sophia gives really, really good advice,” Snow, 22, reveals in the May issue of CosmoGIRL!. “I was going through a difficult time, and she was going through a difficult time figuring out the whole Chad [Michael Murray split] thing.

“We had so many slumber parties where she held my hand [as we worked] through a lot of different things,” Snow goes on. “When somebody can be there through something like that, they’re a friend forever.”

Snow says she decided to make her struggle with anorexia public after two of her friends died from an eating disorder.

“I was devastated,” she says. “I have so many girlfriends who are not even in Hollywood who struggle with eating disorders — Sophia and Amanda [Bynes] are the only two people I know who are happy with their bodies.”

Living in the superficial world of Hollywood, Snow says she is glad she overcame her battle at an early age.

“I think everybody wants to be popular, especially out here in Hollywood,” she says.

“Thank God I went through all of that so early, in middle and high school, to realize it’s not about being popular or cool — it’s about being who you are.”

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On Saturday, March 29, tickets will go on sale for The 5th Annual James Lafferty/One Tree Hill Charity Basketball Game.  The game will take place on April 26 in Wilmington, and will feature stars such as Sophia Bush and Jackson Brundage competing against one another.

In case the idea of seeing adorable little Jamie Scott playing basketball isn’t enough to get you to book a flight to North Carolina, many other stars will also be attending.  According to OneTreeHillFans.com, the list of confirmed stars includes Bethany Joy Galeotti, Lee Norris, Paul Johansson, Stephen Colletti (Chase), and series creator Mark Schwahn.  Chad Michael Murray and Hilarie Burton have yet to confirm their appearances, but it’s quite possible they’ll stop by as well.

Tickets go on sale this Saturday for only $25.  Proceeds from the event will benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which is an organization that helps treat children with serious diseases.  The Wilmington Family YMCA will also receive part of the proceeds, as will Winni’s Garden, which assists homeless pets and animal shelters.

Not only will fans get to see the basketball game for a mere $25, but there’s also an autograph session afterwards where they can meet the stars.  That’s quite a deal.
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One Tree Hill actress Barbara Alyn Woods will reign as Queen Azalea 2008.

The N.C. Azalea Festival committee made the announcement Thursday, adding that several of Woods’ co-stars will join the festivities as well.

Woods appeared regularly on the Wilmington-made teen drama for four seasons as Deb Scott, the mother of character Nathan Scott, played by James Lafferty.

Though she has yet to appear in any episodes of the show’s current season (its fifth), Woods has made Wilmington her home and enjoys being a full-time mom to three daughters.

Woods appeared as a celebrity guest at the festival in 2005 but was not able to attend all the events. This year’s festival, which runs April 9-13 in Wilmington, is all in her honor.

“We chose her because One Tree Hill has certainly done a great job highlighting our community. And we’re proud to have a beautiful actress who’s not only played on One Tree Hill but has ties to the local community as well,” said Erica Mearns, the festival’s vice president.

Woods, a Chicago native, began her career as a Miss Teen Pageant winner, going on to appear in several commercials and in regular performances at The Victory Gardens Theatre.

She moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting, eventually starring in the TV version of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and landing several guest starring roles. Her feature film credits include Frankie Starlight, The Waterdance, Striptease and Flesh and Bone.

Joining her as celebrity guests will be her co-stars Lee Norris (who plays Mouth McFadden on the show), Hilarie Burton (Peyton Sawyer) and Chad Michael Murray (Lucas Scott).

If you think that’s a lot of One Tree Hill for one festival, Mearns says it’s appropriate.

“It just really goes back to One Tree Hill has just done such a great job … promoting Wilmington and the surrounding area,” she said. “It’s a wonderful show and it has great popularity and we just thought it was fitting.”

Other celebrity guests include Entertainment Tonight weekend anchor and correspondent Kevin Frazier and Miss USA 2005 Chelsea Cooley.

Surrounding the stars during the festival will be other North Carolina personalities. This year’s Queen’s Court members are Miss Central Carolina RaSheeda Waddell, Miss Cabarrus County Amanda Sowards, Miss Garner Amanda Watson, Miss Forsyth County Erica Dellinger, Miss Mount Holly Katherine Southard and Miss Mecklenburg County Meaghan Perrigo.

Also, New Hanover High School senior Joshlynn Starling was crowned the 2008 North Carolina Azalea Festival Princess March 1 after competing against 23 other New Hanover County seniors.

During the parade, the queen takes the honorary final position. But it’s the Grand Marshal’s job to lead the procession. U.S. Navy Captain Mark Davis will fill the position this year. Davis is commanding officer of the new nuclear fast attack submarine North Carolina, which will be commissioned here May 3.

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Jane Beck, set costumer for “One Tree Hill,” said that she had a lot of faith that the show would be picked up for a sixth season based on its overall success, but feels lucky just the same to be part of an active production.

“I’m feeling tremendously blessed,” Beck said. “It is one of the CW’s highest rated shows, and since the actors are contracted for one more year, I had a lot of faith that we would be picked up again. There are just so many reasons to do it.”

With many teen dramas going down the destructive path of following their established characters to college, “One Tree Hill” took a different approach

and fast-forwarded each character four years ahead — in seasons five and six, the show has relied on flashbacks to keep the audience up to speed.

Although the show is offering its viewing audience something different when compared to the majority of most teen dramas, the potential actors’ strike may still inhibit the forward motion of all production in the area, which may spell trouble for the film industry as a whole.

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‘One Tree Hill’ picked up for coveted sixth season

By Amy Hotz
Staff Writer
amy.hotz@starnewsonline.com

The CW announced Monday that One Tree Hill would be back for a sixth season, drawing comparisons from locals to another long-running made-in-Wilmington teen drama, Dawson’s Creek. It’s a comparison those involved with the show relish.

“It’s sort of unimaginable,” said Mark Schwahn, One Tree Hill’s creator.

Also picked up by The CW were dramas Gossip Girl, Smallville and Supernatural, the comedy Everybody Hates Chris and reality competition America’s Next Top Model.

The CW is the latest network to announce early pickups for next fall, a move likely influenced by the shortened pilot season brought about by the recent writers strike. The network did not, however, announce how many episodes it would commit to producing. The CW publicist Jeff Tobler said specifics would not be known until the May 15 “upfront” presentation, when The CW will present its fall schedule to advertisers.

Schwahn is crossing his fingers for 22 more episodes.

“I don’t know if we’ll get 22 episodes next year, I think we will. … I think that pulls us even with Dawson’s Creek. Dawson’s Creek is a huge, big, wonderful show that when you come to Wilmington to make a pilot, you have this specter of this show looming over you and it seems unattainable to go as long as they would,” he said.

Local crew members expressed a relief in knowing that after wrapping the recently ordered six episodes to be filmed for season five, they’ll go on a short hiatus and get right back to work.

Michael J. Hall, a construction coordinator on the show who also worked on Dawson’s Creek, was “a bit surprised” to learn the show had been renewed. Hall learned about the sixth season approval when called by the Star-News for comment. He was in New Orleans working on a feature film.

“Yee ha!” he said. “I came here to do a show during the strike, and I was unaware that after the strike was resolved, they’d come back and shoot a few more episodes for season five. So I’ll definitely be home for season six.”

Being able to work at home means a lot to Hall, and knowing that the jobs are going to keep on coming is an even bigger relief.

“On Dawson’s, we kind of knew that we’d have a fifth and sixth season at the end of the fourth, which is very rare in this industry that you’d have time off knowing you were going to have a job,” he said.

A sixth season for the show, which employs between 125 and 150 locals, is good news for the local economy, said Johnny Griffin, director of the Wilmington Regional Film Commission. In the past, One Tree Hill has spent roughly a million dollars an episode, he said, “If they order 12 or 13 or 22, that’s how much more we’re going to get in the local economy.”

Also, Griffin said, EUE/Screen Gems Studios did not have anything on its calendar going into the summer or fall because of a possible actors’ strike this summer.

“We’re waiting to see what’s going to happen there. But it’s good to know that at least when that all gets resolved that we at least have one project that has already committed and will be here,” he said. “Keeping our name out there in the television world is important for us as well, for other companies to see the success, that it’s still working, that it’s not just a trend from the past with Dawson’s Creek or something.”

In the CW announcement, the network alluded to One Tree Hill’s appeal to female viewers ages 18-34 as a reason for the show’s renewed popularity. Schwahn says he thinks all that success can be attributed to one thing – jumping ahead four years in the story line. This season, the show skipped the characters’ college lives and picked up four years after their high school graduation.

“I believe that’s the single factor responsible for this sixth season pickup,” Schwahn said. “It proved to be invigorating to the cast, to the crew, to the writers and to the audience. The numbers are up this year, which is very rare for a show that is having a fifth season … You know, the kids have graduated high school and usually you start to see a creative decline in shows of that ilk … Shows have survived it for a couple of years, but no show has been creatively better than it was before. And this show is.

“I actually had said today, even, not anticipating an early pickup, I said, ‘I feel more confident about a season six than I have any other season.’ And it turned out to be true.”

The One Tree Hill pickup is just the most recent good news for Wilmington’s film professionals. HBO confirmed Thursday that an adaptation of the BBC series Little Britain will begin filming here this month.

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