Is Movie-Making Coming Back to Louisiana?
Hollywood productions are still slow going in California and that is something that could benefit Louisiana. Chris Stelly, the Executive Director of Louisiana Entertainment with the the Office of Economic Development says the industry is slowly restarting and we are seeing some of the productions coming to our state.
The industry has made serious adjustments to to deal with this “new normal”. Crews are social distancing and all protocols are being followed as productions return.
Louisiana does have an upper hand on many other states because the cost to do business here is much less than in other states.
Stelly says the Shreveport Bossier market is poised to bring in some productions since we already have 2 soundstages here that are ready to go. He says we also have an active film community because of the passion surrounding our Film Prize Festival. That $50,000 prize attracts filmmakers from all over the world every year. This year, the event was held virtually, but it was still a great success.
Stelly says here are some of the projects currently up and going in Louisiana:
NCIS: New Orleans, Your Honor, Claws, Queen Sugar and several other smaller productions. Stelly says Baton Rouge also has the Celtic Media Center and New Orleans also has facilities across the city that can service the industry.