From Staff and Wire Reports

The television remake of the film “Dirty Dancing” is twirling and spinning ahead in Western North Carolina, even as North Carolina’s business reputation has suffered setbacks following controversy over passage of House Bill 2.

The state caught flak recently after Gov. Pat McCrory signed a law that critics say discriminates against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

In the aftermath, several companies and their representatives have publicly voiced disagreement with the new law, including PayPal’s reversal of plans to launch a major expansion in the state. And leaders in the entertainment industry, a sector that’s traditionally supported pro-LGBT policies, have thrown their influence in the political ring, too.

Two films are currently being shot in the Asheville area: Lionsgate Entertainment’s “Dirty Dancing” and the Fox Searchlight/Film4 production “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” Five other films are underway throughout the rest of the state.

Lionsgate said it will move ahead with its plans to shoot in Henderson and Jackson counties, despite issuing a statement condemning the state’s new law. The company noted that it “will be hard-pressed to continue our relationship with North Carolina, if this regressive law remains on the books.

“Our ‘Dirty Dancing’ 3-hour filmed musical event, which celebrates the principles of inclusiveness, diversity and tolerance, will go forward given our obligation to the hundreds of people in the state employed by the production,” the statement from Lionsgate asserted.