After 20 months of planning, Nu Image/Millennium Films plans to begin construction on an $8 million movie studio in Shreveport's Ledbetter Heights neighborhood.
Construction on city-leased land should begin by the end April, according to Diego Martinez, president of Nu Image/Millennium's local unit Studio Operations.
"I've got until the end of the year to get that building built," said Martinez, whose confidence is running high.
To utilize a state's transferable tax credit for infrastructure — worth up to 40 percent of construction costs — the first phase of the studio must be finished by the end of 2009.
"If we started in April, we'll be set," Martinez said. He's balancing studio plans with two movies in production in Louisiana: "Cool Dog" in Shreveport and "The Expendables" in New Orleans.
This first phase of the studio's two-phase construction plan will add two soundstages and offices — roughly 53,000 square feet of total building space — to a 6.7 acre lot, which will serve as a base of operations for the company's filmmaking operations. For a second phase, the company would add prop storage, a carpentry mill and perhaps another soundstage to a 20-acre footprint.
In December 2007, the Shreveport City Council agreed to spend $2 million (drawn from riverfont gaming revenue) to acquire land necessary for the studio plans and redevelopment. Land for the first phase has been acquired. For the second phase, 81 of 91 lots have been acquired. For a third and smaller phase of land acquisition, only one lot remains.
"We're getting very close," said Malcolm Stadtlander, Shreveport's property management administrator. He feels extremely confident about getting the rest. "We're working on it diligently."
For the land, Nu Image/Millennium signed a 49-year lease for $1,200 per year with the city, and the lease includes options for renewal.
Nu Image/Millennium has made nine movies in Shreveport since late 2006 and has long been looking to centralize its operations within the city and build soundstages that it could use at will instead of renting local production facilities on a per-project basis.
Word of Nu Image/Millennium's intent to push forward is welcomed by Shreveport Councilman Monty Walford, whose district includes Ledbetter Heights. "I am still very excited about it. I think it's going to be a great addition," said Walford, who attended a ceremonial groundbreaking in April 2008. "Usually I'm glad to do a groundbreaking but I want to go cut a ribbon when that's done. "» You're talking about a lot of people going to work down there."
The studio, which would house many films in various phases of production, could support an estimated 100 to 500 jobs at any given time.
While the studio project got off to a fast public start and was pitched as a catalyst for mixed-use redevelopment of Ledbetter Heights, it has encountered big delays.
"When you are dealing with a project this size, and you are dealing with government, you have to deal with the hurdles you have to deal with," Martinez said, including securing lease terms, pursuing state certification and finalizing construction plans.
The city had to move a water main that cut through the lot. Nu Image/Millennium has had a local change of management since the groundbreaking. And the company, whose headquarters are in Los Angeles, has been trying to finance the project inside a bad credit market.
"We are not a Louisiana company, and it's very difficult to get local banks to work with a company who hasn't been well established here," Martinez said. He's confident the funding is secure and he's itching to turn some dirt.
Nu Image/Millennium scaled back size of its phase one plans — from $10 million to about $8 million — to make it more feasible considering the recession.
"We can't understate the impact it has" on redevelopment possibilities, said Dale Sibley, Shreveport interim chief administrative officer. "If all things go on plan, then we will still see the redevelopment of that area."
In signs that Millennium/Nu Image is strengthening its roots in Louisiana, a visual effects company called Worldwide FX, which handles many Nu Image/Millennium projects, aims to open a postproduction facility in Shreveport. Martinez declined to comment about the development.
A classified ad in The Times on March 1 said the office will support up to 10 jobs. Worldwide FX also operates in Bulgaria, where Millennium/Nu Image owns another studio. Word of Nu Image/Millennium's intent to push forward is welcomed by Shreveport Councilman Monty Walford, whose district includes Ledbetter Heights.
"I am still very excited about it. I think it's going to be a great addition," said Walford, who attended a ceremonial groundbreaking in April 2008. "Usually I'm glad to do a groundbreaking but I want to go cut a ribbon when that's done. "» You're talking about a lot of people going to work down there."
The studio, which would house many films in various phases of production, could support an estimated 100 to 500 jobs at any given time.
While the studio project got off to a fast public start and was pitched as a catalyst for mixed-use redevelopment of Ledbetter Heights, it has encountered big delays.
"When you are dealing with a project this size, and you are dealing with government, you have to deal with the hurdles you have to deal with," Martinez said, including securing lease terms, pursuing state certification and finalizing construction plans.
The city had to move a water main that cut through the lot. Nu Image/Millennium has had a local change of management since the groundbreaking. And the company, whose headquarters are in Los Angeles, has been trying to finance the project inside a bad credit market.
"We are not a Louisiana company, and it's very difficult to get local banks to work with a company who hasn't been well established here," Martinez said. He's confident the funding is secure and he's itching to turn some dirt.
Nu Image/Millennium scaled back size of its phase one plans — from $10 million to about $8 million — to make it more feasible considering the recession.
"We can't understate the impact it has" on redevelopment possibilities, said Dale Sibley, Shreveport interim chief administrative officer. "If all things go on plan, then we will still see the redevelopment of that area."
In signs that Millennium/Nu Image is strengthening its roots in Louisiana, a visual effects company called Worldwide FX, which handles many Nu Image/Millennium projects, aims to open a postproduction facility in Shreveport. Martinez declined to comment about the development.
A classified ad in The Times on March 1 said the office will support up to 10 jobs. Worldwide FX also operates in Bulgaria, where Millennium/Nu Image owns another studio.
By Alexandyr Kent • akent@gannett.com • March 9, 2009
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