Wilmington-shot drama with Oscar-nominated director, 'Dawson's Creek' star shutting down

When film and television production shut down in Wilmington, and nationwide, earlier this year due to strikes by the writers' and actors' unions, a few projects were left in limbo.

One that won't be coming back to Wilmington, apparently, is the "Untitled Josh and Lauren Project," also known as the "Untitled J&L Project." Entertainment industry trade publication Variety is reporting that the series "is not moving forward" at Starz, the network where the show was set to air.

The romantic drama was developed and executive produced by Oscar-nominated director Ava DuVernay. It starred Joshua Jackson (formerly of the Wilmington-shot series "Dawson's Creek") and the Tony-nominated actress Lauren Ridloff. Ridloff played a deaf, Black woman who enters into an intense relationship with a white, hearing man played by Jackson.

Jackson, of course, spent several years in Wilmington in the late 1990s and early 2000s playing Pacey Witter on the iconic teen drama "Dawson's Creek." "J&L" was his first project back in Wilmington since "Dawson's" ended.

Starz "decided not to move forward (with "J&L") after DuVernay chose to step away shortly after the end of her overall deal with Warner Bros. TV in May," Variety reported.

The "Untitled J&L Project" started shooting here in late March and was scheduled to go on through the summer. It shut down production in May.

The Writers' Guild of America struck a deal with the studios and streaming services a couple of weeks ago. But production nationwide, and in Wilmington, is largely shut down as the industry waits for the striking Screen Actors Guild union to settle its differences with the studios and streamers. Actors are seeking better pay and assurances over the industry's use of artificial intelligence, among other demands.

A spinoff of the HGTV home improvement show "Good Bones" has been filming locally, but otherwise it's been pretty quiet in Wilmington.

It's anticipated within the industry that the third season of Amazon Prime teen drama "The Summer I Turned Pretty" will shoot in Wilmington next year. But a start date for that production, along with most filming in the Wilmington area, would appear to be up in the air for the foreseeable future.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Starz drops Wilmington show with Joshua Jackson and Ava DuVernay