Movie filmed in Myrtle Beach debuts in South Carolina. Here’s where you can watch

A new movie featuring and filmed in Myrtle Beach is coming to South Carolina for a limited theatrical run.

“The Grand Strand,” a coming-of-age drama about a 14-year-old boy spending the summer in Myrtle Beach, is showing at the Nickelodeon Theater in Columbia through Jan. 29.

“It’s a coming of age story about a young man who loses his grandfather and is trying to find his place in the world. He’s forced to choose between living with foster parents or living with his aunt and uncle for the summer in a camper in a campground in Myrtle Beach, and he goes to live with them,” said producer Dustin Whitehead, who plays the young protagonist’s uncle.

Whitehead estimates about 80% of the movie was shot at Apache Campground, where writer and director Luke Lowder spent his childhood summers.

“A lot of the memories that he had, a lot of experiences he had as a teenager happened there and are in the movie in some capacity,” Whitehead said. “The script calls for a beach town in Myrtle Beach, and so it was necessary, but also … it just felt more magical, more alive to shoot it there.”

Production filmed in Myrtle Beach during summer 2023 and featured local extras and Coastal Carolina University students on the crew.

Before coming to Columbia, “The Grand Strand” showed at eight film festivals. The movie won the special jury prize for best feature film at the Beverly Hills Film Festival and lead Wilds Clemmons won breakthrough or emerging actor at the Richmond Intrernational Film Festival.

“It’s an exciting film about youth, about finding your voice,” said Whitehead.

The movie’s team doesn’t currently have plans to show “The Grand Strand” in the Grand Strand, but they’re open to the possibility.

“So far, we haven’t pursued a theatrical run in Myrtle Beach, but if someone’s interested, we’re open to it,” said Whitehead. “We just haven’t pursued it yet, but we are definitely planning on having it on streaming.”

For cinema fans waiting to watch the movie in Myrtle Beach, there’s no official timeline for when the film will be available to watch at home, but Whitehead hopes to make it available to stream within the next year.