COMPANY TOWN ANNEX

Commercial Producer Buys Carolco Studio: EUE/Screen Gems won the bidding for Carolco Studios in Wilmington, N.C. EUE/Screen Gems, a splinter firm of Hollywood production company Screen Gems, offered $3.4 million for the studio during a bankruptcy hearing this week in Los Angeles. EUE is known for producing commercials, including some advertisements for Coca-Cola. Among the other bidders was Wilmington investor Monica Watson, who opened the bidding with a $2.5-million offer and stayed in the race until Screen Gems topped her final offer of $3.3 million. Filmmaker Dino De Laurentiis built the Wilmington studios. De Laurentiis Entertainment Group went bankrupt in 1989 and in 1990 turned the studios over to Carolco Pictures Inc., which now is in bankruptcy proceedings. EUE is scheduled to meet with Wilmington’s film commission to discuss its plans for the facility.