The Waterfront filming locations: Where the Netflix NC drama was shot

The Waterfront is Netflix's new crime thriller directed by Kevin Williamson, inspired by his childhood in North Carolina.

Published on: Jun 21, 2025, 15:59:18 IST

By HT News Desk | Posted by Tuhin Das Mahapatra

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The Waterfront is Netflix’s latest addition to its catalogue of crime thrillers. Directed and created by Kevin Williamson, the show is closely tied to anecdotal incidents from his own childhood. Considering the deeply personal nature of this project, it’s no wonder that Williamson chose to return to a location he’s all too familiar with and comfortable in: North Carolina.

The Waterfront, directed by Kevin Williamson, is a Netflix crime thriller that reflects his childhood in North Carolina. (Netflix)

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North Carolina’s significance

Although not a do-or-done location, there’s no doubt that North Carolina has been a repetitive favorite of Williamson in his 30-year career trajectory. Having previously directed iconic pieces of pop culture history such as Dawson’s Creek, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and the fifth Scream movie, Wilmington (a small town in North Carolina) is the common string tying these films and shows together.

Since The Waterfront is a heavily location-dependent story, North Carolina turned out to provide the perfect backdrop for Williamson’s fictional town of Havenport. Along with Wilmington, multiple locations in Southport have also been used for filming. “I grew up in North Carolina, as you know, in a very, very small town, very much Southport, where we filmed this show,” Williamson said to Screen Rant.

The Waterfront plot

The Waterfront tells the story of a family patriarch who struggles to maintain his family ties via his fishing and restaurant business and ultimately ends up resorting to smuggling drugs to make ends meet. This is a direct reflection of Williamson’s childhood where his father, whom he considers to be “the greatest man alive”, was a fisherman who failed to make ends meet and was subsequently imprisoned for drug trafficking.

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The first season of the show was released on the streaming platform on Thursday (June 19).

By Stuti Gupta

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