Good news for the South Louisiana filming. North Louisiana has a slower last quarter but there are a few good productions working before the end of the year. Next year is looking very promising for all of Louisiana.
Source: Greater Baton Rouge Business Report Daily Report
With hurricane season ending, film and TV production in south Louisiana is picking up, and New Orleans is on track to break last year's filming record. David Simon, creator of The Wire and Homicide: Life on the Street, started shooting the first season of his HBO series Treme in New Orleans this month, and actor Jason Statham had a downtown office building bustling with production of a scene for the action thriller, The Mechanic. They are among at least eight film and TV projects in the New Orleans area this fall—and more than a dozen statewide—providing an end-of-the-year boost after a sluggish summer, says Sherri McConnell, head of the state film office. "Summer is usually a slow time for us," McConnell says, citing higher production costs during hurricane season, which runs June 1 to Nov. 30, as a factor. But this year film industry strikes, the economy and uncertainty over the future of Louisiana's entertainment tax credit program were also to blame, she says. Before the state Legislature approved a 5% boost in incentives for movie and TV makers this spring, the 25% tax credit was set to drop to 20% in 2010 and 15% in 2012. McConnell says her office received 25 applications for projects in the first half of 2009, but since July 1 more than 60 have come in. If all the projects get under way before the end of the year, the state might reach its filming record of 84 projects, set last year.
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