Stephen King's 'Under the Dome' TV adaptation is underway on CBS. Why did Stephen film the series out of state?

'Under the Dome' is a novel (and now TV show) about a town suddenly sealed off by an invisible dome. Most of Stephen King's books and screenplays are based in Maine, but why not filmed here? Taxes, weather and location are the answers.

Obviously we know how the weather in Maine can be. It's a challenge to constantly adapt to the ever changing weather. The location they choose is Wilmington, North Carolina. North Carolina has a very diverse landscape, making it ideal for shooting multiple scenes. They also wanted the show to look like it could have been filmed in 'Anywhere, USA.'

The biggest reason: MONEY! Maine dose not have the film expense tax credits that other states have. Many states are quite competitive with offering great tax credits for production companies. North Carolina offers a 25% tax credit of film expenses. That's some serious savings when filming high-end TV shows.

The production team also considered Texas and Louisiana for their locations and tax credits.

It's a bummer the show wasn't filmed here, but hey, at least we have Message in a Bottle. That was filmed in my home town of Phippsburg!

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