Paramount+ movie 'Zoey 102' features a bevy of Wilmington locations, and a local celebrity

Don't let the million-or-so establishing shots of Los Angeles and the Pacific Coast Highway fool you. Despite being set on the West Coast, "Zoey 102," the Paramount+ film sequel to the mid-2000s Nickelodeon sitcom "Zoey 101," was shot mostly in and around Wilmington early this year.

There are plenty of area locations in the movie, which premiered Thursday, as well a cameo appearance by one bona fide Wilmington celebrity.

"Zoey 102" stars Jamie Lynn Spears, sister to pop singer Britney, as Zoey Brooks, a high-school golden child whose 30-something life might ring sadly familiar to the millennials who grew up watching "Zoey 101": aside from work, Zoey appears to spend most of her time doomscrolling and drinking lots of rosé.

Zoey's job is being a harried producer on a reality show called "Love: Fully Charged," on which the winning male contestant gets to choose between marrying the woman of his dreams and owning a self-driving electric car that's like a cross between a Tesla and a Lamborghini. (We now know why the movie's code name while shooting in Wilmington was "Electric Love.")

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A kind of goofily endearing humor holds sway throughout, and the plot involves the characters from "Zoey 101" reassembling for a wedding, with Zoey trying to be the maid of honor while simultaneously tending to her producing duties, which doesn't go well. Hilarity, and even a couple of legit lol moments, ensue.

Keep reading to find out about the Wilmington locations, but there will be spoilers.

An early scene where Zoey gets a wedding proposal, and on a second date no less, was shot at Origins Food and Drink off Eastwood Road in the Autumn Hall neighborhood. Office scenes were shot at the Common Desk co-working space on Front Street downtown.

When Zoey goes home after work, it's to a cute little bungalow at 702 Orange St.

The exterior of Kenan Auditorium on the campus of the University of North Carolina Wilmington shows up in one scene, and the interior does double duty: as the place where Zoey's friend, inventor and bride-to-be Quinn (Erin Sanders) launches her latest creation (a clear, unbreakable smart phone), and also where the grand finale of "Love: Fully Charged" is staged.

In another scene, characters lunch at Pipeline Poke, also in Autumn Hall, and visit the Coastal Knot bridal shop on Shipyard Boulevard, where Zoey makes a comically dramatic entrance.

When Zoey and former flame Chase (Sean Flynn) go to pick up the rings for the wedding, it's at Perry's Emporium in Barclay Commons near the intersection of Shipyard and Indepdence boulevards. And who should show up in that scene but Perry's Emporium owner Alan Perry himself, playing a customer in his own store.

Perry — known for his long-running series of of memorable commercials on Wilmington TV over the years, and for his tag line, "I'll see you when you get here" — even gets a line during the movie's end credits during the blooper reel.

When the wedding party goes out on the town the night before the nuptials, it's to Hell's Kitchen on downtown Wilmington's Princess Street, where an epic karaoke battle ensues.

Also on Princess Street, the Knights of Pythias building, now headquarters of Monteith Construction Corporation, is the apartment building where Zoey's friend Quinn lives.

The rocks and trees of Fort Fisher south of Carolina Beach are used in a series of scenes to portray, of all places, the Pacific Coast Highway, where Zoey's self-driving car breaks down.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Zoey 102 filming locations include Wilmington, NC shops, restaurants