Mobile Home Sales in Smallwood, SC

Killin’ It

Michael Smallwood saw his latest gig to hit the big screen, Halloween Kills, for the first time Tuesday at Hollywood’s historic Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. For the busy Charleston actor and playwright who also serves as City Paper’s contributing arts editor, it’s a first in a career that’s wound from community theater to indie film to big-budget on-screen productions.

Returning for the second installment of the latest films in the Halloween franchise, Smallwood’s character was conceptualized by the Charleston-based Rough House Pictures team that includes director/writer/producer David Gordon Green and writer/producer Danny McBride. Rough House’s portfolio includes everything from HBO-quality slapstick in The Righteous Gemstones to the renewed Halloween, produced alongside the horror wizards at Blumhouse Productions, which brought the world Get Out, Paranormal Activity and more.

Ahead of the premiere, we sat down with Smallwood to talk about the experience of helping create 2018’s Halloween, filmed in Charleston, and 2021’s Halloween Kills, filmed mostly in Wilmington.

City Paper: You’ve acted on stage and on screen. Which is your favorite?

Michael Smallwood: I think I prefer stage. There’s something about the energy of that live crowd — the reaction you get from an audience who is actively watching right there. With a film, as an actor, you do it, and then you walk away from it, and it’s months before you actually see the work. And then, once audiences see it, you really only know what people’s reactions are if they tell you.

CP: What led you to get involved in Halloween (2018)?

MS: I auditioned a couple of times for Rough House Pictures stuff. I auditioned for Vice Principals and a couple other things. They basically had open, sort of, auditions to fill out the town, basically various characters living in Haddonfield. They called me in, I did a read and was like, “OK, great. That was cool.” And then maybe a week later, my agent called and was like, “Hey, do you want to be in Halloween? Because they have a part they’d like you to play.” And I was like, “Absolutely. Of course I do.”

CP: Is that a situation where you want to know what the pay is first? Or the time commitment?

MS: With indie projects, I’m always asking, “What’s the money and what’s the time commitment?” Because you can end up in situations, and I’ve been in them before, where you’re working way too much for way too little compensation. But with studio projects, I never really have that question, because at the end of the day, worst case scenario is that they’re going to pay me SAG (Screen Actors Guild) scale. And SAG scale is very good.

And frequently, you’ll know when you get the casting notice, the rate is there for you to see. I leapt at the opportunity to do Halloween. My wife’s a huge fan of that franchise, and I knew this would be a huge movie. So absolutely, I want to do this part. I didn’t know, after we filmed that movie, that when putting together the second one, they’d want to bring my character back.

CP: When did you figure that out?

MS: They called me in summer 2019. Then at the end of July, I got a call that was like, “Yep, it’s definitely happening. They need you fly out to L.A. for some special-effects tests.”

They sent me the script, and I read it and realized, “Oh, OK. I’m in a lot of this movie. Great. Cool.”

CP: Does your character have a name?

MS: In the last movie, he was credited as “Hunky Doctor.” And in this one, he gets an actual name.

CP: Ah, right: Michael Smallwood, Hunky Doctor.

MS: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s right.

CP: You said your wife is a fan of Halloween. Were you a horror fan or Halloween fan before this?

MS: Horror’s never been one of my favorite genres, but there have been standout ones that I’ve always liked. I’m a big fan of the Scream movies, those are my favorite horror movies.

CP: How was it different, day to day, than other projects you’ve been on?

MS: It was a much longer process of having to be on set. A big difference in this project versus some of the others is that it was all night shoots. Every day, a night shoot. Once you start turning your entire schedule upside down, it takes a while to get used to. You’re basically on set all night, then you’re trying to sleep during the day. The rest of it was all just the work. You know, you’re on set, getting to do … some really cool stuff — I’m trying not to give away too many spoilers.

CP: With horror there are so many short cuts and quick shots, I assume that means a lot of repetitive takes?

MS: That’s just the film process. Especially with horror, there are some things you can only do once because, once we do it, you know, that costume is going to be ruined. Some stuff we did a ton of times. They’ll be like, “Just give me a bunch of screams over and over again.” Every little bit, we’ve probably done that dialogue 10, 12, 15 times.

CP: Is it fun while you’re doing it? Even though it’s difficult and tedious?

MS: Oh, yea. We all say the worst day that you spend on a film set is the best day of work. Because at the end of the day, we’re getting to tell stories.

CP: From the trailers, it looks like you might spend some quality time in this car …

MS: We spent a week in that car. There were two of them — here’s a little movie magic: One of them was just a regular car that they could film interiors of. And then one of them was specifically rigged for certain things — we actually didn’t even use them. There were supposed to be some gunshots that went off inside the car, so one of the cars was rigged with gunshots inside. We spent a whole week of night shoots in and around that car.

CP: Did you get to keep anything from the production?

MS: The one thing I did keep is one of my stethoscopes. One of my lines from (Halloween) 2018 was about the stethoscope, and we brought it back for this movie. I got to use it in a really cool way in the movie. And I was like, “I’m keeping this.”

CP: So, do you think your character will be returning for the third movie, Halloween Ends?

MS: It’s not looking good! I’m not going to say no, because anybody can return for any number of reasons. I have no idea. But, no spoilers, I don’t think so.

Halloween Kills hits theaters Oct. 15. Terrace Theater will host a special screening at 7:30 p.m. Friday, featuring an intro and Q+A with director David Gordon Green.

Stay cool. Support City Paper.

City Paper has been bringing the best news, food, arts, music and event coverage to the Holy City since 1997. Support our continued efforts to highlight the best of Charleston with a one-time donation or become a member of the City Paper Club.

ESA Gaming’s Head of Marketing, Thomas Smallwood, discusses the potential of the African iGaming markets and what the company learned in its own experience in the region

Smallwood talks about the exciting African markets where the supplier recently made its debut after launching its content with 888Africa, and five operator partners of BtoBet, reaching players in Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, and Zambia.

Q: What countries in Africa do you currently see the most potential in with regulation around iGaming still evolving?

There are a number of countries that are currently considering a licensing system for online gambling, opening up the door for global operators and suppliers to enter the lucrative African marketplace.

The ones that currently offer the most potential are South Africa and Nigeria, with both countries recently announcing reform. South Africa’s largest operator, Sun International, has estimated that the size of the country’s online gambling market is $370m, showcasing the potential if regulation is done right.

Tanzania is another market to keep an eye on as we expect there might be specific online gambling regulations floated shortly. As many of the countries are still unregulated or emerging, we see great untapped potential in Africa and think the market is ripe for a wide range of content.

Q: What are the biggest challenges in African markets compared with countries in Europe?

Firstly, I would point out that there is a real danger in addressing Africa as one market and we see this happening a lot. From an iGaming perspective, it is no more one market than Europe, and all countries bring with them their own challenges. Africa is home to a strong and vibrant Muslim community, with gambling completely prohibited in many regions, and this needs to be considered. As mentioned above, regulation is at different stages and all countries take a slightly different approach, meaning thorough research is necessary before deciding to enter an African market.

Connectivity and the high use of mobile devices are other challenges. Low data speeds and incompatible devices are still prevalent, creating a need for lightweight, fast-loading games.

Sports betting remains more popular than online casino content so there is also an element of educating the local audience on other verticals. Introducing new ways to cross-sell is something that we focus on, and our products sit in the sportsbook, offering quick casino games by easily swiping between the two verticals. This offering is ideal for the African market as it is also optimized for mobile and presents players with easy-to-understand non-traditional titles without disrupting the betting experience.

Q: Retail sports betting has traditionally been extremely popular in African markets, is there potential for online casino to boom?

Definitely. Perhaps one common factor among the many African markets is that they are largely sportsbook driven. This means a ratio of four or five to one when it comes to revenue from sports betting when compared to casinos, so there is much scope for cross-selling. As we have seen in other countries that have introduced online casino after sports betting, the vertical has quickly grown in popularity and often represents a bigger share of the market in well-established iGaming regions. In Africa, non-traditional content has proven successful, partly because it can include sporting elements and offer a simple, lightweight alternative to feature and graphic-rich slots. Crash games are a good example of this, and we see this vertical increasing in popularity.

In Africa, there is also a real social aspect to gambling which can be incorporated in non-traditional content by multiplayer aspects and chat functions.

As online gambling is becoming more prevalent, the marriage of retail and mobile is perfectly doable as demonstrated by plenty of markets around the world. Whether that is using physical points to recharge your betting account or connecting through PCs within a betting shop, this will be an important part of the puzzle in Africa.

Q: Is it important to have local support when looking to enter African markets as a European supplier?

I would say it’s crucial for suppliers to have local strategic partnerships for reselling content into Africa. Apart from having the local industry knowledge and expertise, partners can offer support with cultural differences, language, and bureaucracy, while also offering insight into regional quirks.

Even if a supplier has great success in European markets, it doesn’t automatically translate to triumph in other regions and any local support should be welcomed. Suppliers and operators should also share data generated from African markets to ensure that the industry fully understands local preferences and fully take advantage of the opportunity that the continent offers.

A new hotel and multifamily project are in the works where a parking lot and one-story building now sit in downtown Charleston behind a block of King Street businesses, but merchants aren’t looking forward to losing parking spaces during construction.

Developers want to build a 122-unit apartment building at 29-35 George St. and a 50-room hotel with 22 condominium units at 84-88 Society St., according to site plans presented to the city.

The 1.75-acre parcel currently includes a parking lot off of George Street and a structure on Society Street that has been used by Threshold Repertory Theatre and other tenants.

Plans call for the backside of the theater building to be demolished for the proposed five- and six-story hotel.

The lodging will be a hybrid that includes residential units, according to the plans.

The proposal shows the first level of the hotel with a lobby, restaurant, bar, cafe and event space while the second and third levels will have 22 hotel units each and another six overnight rooms on the sixth level. Levels four and five will have six condominiums each and level six will have seven additional condo units.

Atop the structure will be three penthouse suites, a restaurant and pool.

The street-level floor of the planned six-story apartment building on George Street is slated to include commercial space for a 2,120-square-foot restaurant and a 3,135-square-foot retail site, according to C. Kendrick with real estate firm Charleston Commercial, who will handle leasing for business tenants.

Parking will be provided through 144 spaces beneath the apartment structure and hotel and 137 spaces on level one of the apartment building. Seventy spaces will be set aside for public parking, and valet service will be offered as well, Kendrick said.

A pool is planned on the second level of the apartments as well. Both planned structures will sit behind a block of King Street businesses.

Merchants who rely on the paid parking lot behind their stores aren’t looking forward to the day building crews move in.

“We pay for our customers to park back there, so it will be a rocky road and cause some challenges for us during construction,” said Gary Flynn, president and CEO of longtime clothing store M. Dumas & Sons, whose shop at King and Society streets sits a few steps away from the planned hotel.

“In the long term, it will be a good thing,” he said. “It will be a nice upgrade for this part of King Street where you can go for an appetizer and rooftop bar. That’s something our customers would enjoy.”

In the middle of the block sits women’s clothing store Hampden.

Stacy Smallwood, who also owns shoe store James and contemporary fashion shop Small on the same block, said the project will be disruptive.

She worries about parking for not only herself and her employees, but also for her customers.

“I don’t get any free spaces back there now,” Smallwood said. “I have to pay to park there, and so do my customers.”

She also relies on deliveries at the back entrances to her shops. “To have the entrance and exit on King Street will make it difficult,” she said. “I’m not looking forward to it.”

Still, she said the finished product is likely to turn out good for her business.

“All of the growth over the past 15 years has positively affected me,” Smallwood said. “The average spend has gone up, and the new growth is attracting a new customer.”

Charleston County land records show GS Acquisition LLC and an affiliate acquired the property in 2019 for nearly $22 million. The transaction included the building at 316 King, which was later sold for $3.6 million to a New York firm.

The companies are affiliates of Connecticut investor Benjamin Nickoll, who bought the building that housed the former Dixie Furniture store at 529 King St. in 2017 for $6.75 million. Two years later, he sold it for $11 million to developers for a 50-room Roost-branded, extended-stay hotel and apartment building, which began construction in July.

Nickoll also led the group that bought the former Bob Ellis shoe store at 332 King St., which sold for $9.5 million in 2017. It’s now the home of The Pinch Hotel.

Also involved in the project is Daniel Pourbaba of development firm Category Co. of Los Angeles.

Nickoll and Pourbaba could not immediately be reached for comment on the proposed new development.

The city’s Board of Architectural Review is scheduled to consider the project on Aug. 24.

Hampden Clothing, a Charleston clothing boutique at 314 King St., has leased a 7,200-square-foot distribution center on north Meeting Street to keep up with demand from shoppers both in person and online.

“In-store sales have increased at a pace of 107% over the past year while our e-commerce sales have increased 48% compared to last year. Online sales have grown to be 30% of our current business,” said Stacy Smallwood, founder and owner of Hampden Clothing. “During the pandemic, many of our clients began to utilize our website for the first time and have not looked back.”

Opening a 1,500-square-foot boutique in 2007, Hampden Clothing now occupies more than 10,000 square feet of retail space in adjoining buildings on King Street that includes its designer shoe store, James, along with 5,000 square feet of office space above its storefront where an in-house e-commerce team works.

Sarah Shelley, with NAI Charleston, represented Hampden Clothing in the lease of 747 Meeting St.

Day-to-day life at the distribution center reveals the inner workings of how to keep a thriving boutique and e-commerce site going.

It’s a long and tedious process that includes receiving and processing up to 40 boxes of new clothing every day, carefully photographing items on both a mannequin and model to ensure they appeal to scrolling eyes online and packing and shipping out hundreds of online orders, Smallwood said.

Once new clothing and ecommerce returns are received and inventoried at the distribution site, items are placed in “steam closets” that press 40 garments at a time before either being sent in a Sprinter van to the retail store or packed and shipped across the country.

“On Mondays we typically process 100 orders from the weekend,” Smallwood said.

While Hampden Clothing has always had an online presence, “it has taken a lot of time, energy and effort from our team to get where it is today,” Smallwood said. “An ecommerce website is always evolving and needs constant updating. Every item in store is on our site, and inventory is updated every 15 minutes when sales occur in store and online.”

It will take a team of people for the distribution center to run seamlessly. Hampden Clothing is currently hiring for a chief operating officer, distribution center manager, buying coordinator, social media and marketing coordinator, marketing and events manager, two stock coordinators, stock assistant, receiving coordinator and an ecommerce photographer.

“The logistics and the amount of time it takes to (photograph) the product on not only a mannequin but also on a model with all the coordinating pieces to go with the look… coordinating over 100 different SKUs of product and 2,000 units of product each day…so many people are involved in the process, and there is so much more once the product is live,” Smallwood said.

The company has hired staff for 25 jobs over the past two years, bringing its total employee count upward of 40.

“With 70% of our sales still coming from in store, our growth is still dependent on our relationships and strong customer base,” Smallwood said.

Smallwood continues to expand avenues in e-commerce, including personal Hampden Clothing “styling boxes” sent to clients across the country that allows them to try on items before purchasing. Styling boxes are processed through the distribution center.

“I am looking forward to continuing this growth in the next 15 years as we bring creative jobs to our community, millions of dollars in revenue and millions in tax dollars to our state,” Smallwood said. “Fashion is not often thought of as an industry that can do such things for our community, but I am choosing to base my business in South Carolina, and we want to show the world what we can do.”

Tennessee recovered nicely from its loss to Georgia with a win over Missouri headed into Saturday’s game against South Carolina ranked No. 5. But while the Volunteers entered with realistic hopes of making the College Football Playoff, those hopes were thoroughly squashed by the Gamecocks.

The night was a pure disaster for Tennessee. South Carolina’s offense overpowered the Volunteers on defense. The Gamecocks scored a touchdown on all but three possessions. Two of those “failures” to score came when the first half and game ended, respectively. When it was over, the Volunteers were on the short side of a 63-38 final score.

Even before the Gamecocks scored their final touchdown, Tennessee had already made the wrong kind of program history.

56 points are the most points Tennessee has allowed to an unranked opponent in school history pic.twitter.com/3GBUxkLsRB

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) November 20, 2022

And Tennessee set another record when South Carolina scored its final touchdowns.

The 63 points South Carolina scored on Tennessee tonight are the most by an unranked team against an AP Top-5 opponent in the Poll Era.

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) November 20, 2022

College football fans had a lot to say about Tennessee’s awful showing in South Carolina.

Tennessee continues to break records in 2022 https://t.co/u5aDzFqjqQ

— Trent Smallwood (@SmallwoodTrent) November 20, 2022

That's going back to 1936.There'll be some car door slamming in the streets of Columbia, SC tonight! (Monty Python reference). https://t.co/eSSwx3cVTM

— Scott Rabalais (@RabalaisAdv) November 20, 2022

Tennessee looks set to become just the 2nd team ever to be ranked #1 in a CFP ranking and miss the College Football Playoff. Historic!

— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) November 20, 2022

Tennessee fans so worried about a rematch you better worry about a rematch with Pitt in the Mayo Bowl

— Baxter Street Boys (@baxstboys) November 20, 2022

96 PERCENT of the money at @CaesarsSports today was on Tennessee to cover as 22.5 point favorites over South Carolina.

They LOSE by 25.

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) November 20, 2022

South Carolina fans should rush the field, tear down the goalpost and walk it all the way to the Tennessee River.

— Clint Lamb (@ClintRLamb) November 20, 2022

The Top Five CFP Teams trying to avoid upsets today:

1. Georgia: “Whew that was close.”

2. Ohio State: “Whew that was close.”

3. Michigan: “Whew that was close.”

4. TCU: “Whew that was close.”

5. Tennessee:pic.twitter.com/VtsdoLxwuW

— The Dawgzilla (@TheDawgzilla) November 20, 2022

This is the worst loss in Tennessee history.

You can deny it, but you’re wrong.

— ZehDuck (@ZehDuck) November 20, 2022

Tennessee had their Linsanity run see y’all in the Cheez-It Bowl

— TheTrackSportsTalkATL Jake (1-0 in GOTYs) (@cantguardjake) November 20, 2022

And as bad as the outcome of the game was, the disaster didn’t stop there for the Volunteers. In the fourth quarter, Hendon Hooker, Tennessee’s starting quarterback and Heisman hopeful, was injured, going down on a dreaded non-contact injury.

Tennessee has had a lot go its way during the 2022 season — including an epic victory over Alabama. The last three weeks, though, have been nothing short of abysmal for the Volunteers..

[CBS Sports, ESPN Stats & Info]