Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Abandoned Elmwood warehouse to become largest film studio east of Mississippi River


by Mike Scott
The Times-Picayune movie critic
Monday March 30, 2009, 7:49 AM

At first, the script called for recasting the old Winn-Dixie warehouse complex in Elmwood into a shiny new Hollywood-style studio -- soundstages, a commissary, a back lot, maybe even a palm tree or two -- over several months of construction.

The 25-acre facility, with more than 500,000 square feet of warehouse space -- which officials said would make it the biggest studio this side of Albuquerque, N.M. -- would undergo a $40 million, tip-to-tail overhaul and reopen late this summer as the region's largest one-stop-shop for TV and film productions.

If they built it, the "Field of Dreams"-inspired thinking went, film and TV projects would come.

The local production industry, however -- that rare thriving sector of the local economy -- couldn't wait.

So with the star-studded action film "The Expendables" and the indie adventure "Dead of Night" coming to town this spring and in need of studio space, the ambitious script for the facility has undergone an on-the-fly rewrite. It is now open for business, months earlier than planned.

"They were knocking on our door," studio president and New Orleans native Dan Forman said. "The films that were calling on us, we didn't want to turn them away. If you tell them no, they won't come back."

For two weeks in late January and early February, the heavily vandalized site that has been idle for more than four years -- aside from a brief stint as a set for "Meet the Spartans" in 2007 and "Cirque du Freak" in 2008 -- was rushed back into commerce, with targeted renovations focusing on the parts of the facility needed by "The Expendables" and "Dead of Night."

"We didn't even have lights back here until two weeks ago," Forman said during a recent tour of one of the soundstage areas. "The buildings had been stripped of everything: copper plumbing, wires. It was ravaged."

Things are brighter now, and crews for both films have been tackling pre-production work on the Louisiana Film Studios campus for several weeks. Cameras and a cadre of stars will begin arriving this week as eight weeks of principal photography gets under way on the supernatural thriller "Dead of Night," inspired by the Italian horror comics series "Dylan Dog" and starring "Superman Returns" actor Brandon Routh.

"The Expendables" -- starring Sylvester Stallone, who wrote the script and will also direct, Mickey Rourke, Forest Whitaker, Jet Li and Jason Statham -- will begin its eight-week local shoot April 27 after three weeks in Brazil.

The buildings they will use won't be nearly as shiny and spiffy as the artist's renderings displayed on an easel in Forman's still-unrenovated office.

"To me it's kind of like it's starting to feel real," studio CEO and project spearhead Wayne Read said. "It's not ideally the way we wanted to launch it. (But) 'The Expendables' wanted the space and we were going to lose them to another market. It was a two-week window where we said, 'If we do this, will you come?'"

Dink Adams was sweating.

His company, Cinelease, one of the largest movie lighting and grip equipment rental companies in the country, was shifting its Louisiana base of operations from Shreveport to the Louisiana Film Studios facility in Elmwood. There was heavy lifting being done, thus the glaze on his forehead. Adding to it were the logistical headaches that accompany any moving day.

But he wasn't complaining. As fond as Adams and Cinelease are of Shreveport -- the company will maintain a smaller operation there -- from a business standpoint, he characterized the move to the Louisiana Film Studios site as a no-brainer.

"This is where the shows are," he said, explaining the move, which he estimated will bring eight to 10 full-time jobs with it. "The last four shows we did last year were in New Orleans. The first three we're doing this year are in New Orleans."

That's music to the ears of Forman and Read, and it fits perfectly into their vision of the studio campus functioning as a home to a collection of film-industry vendors, small production companies and other businesses that can offer on-site support to projects such as "The Expendables" and "Dead of Night."

"The vision of this place started as a community of film," Forman said. "What we saw in other places was a community of filmmakers, a hub of filmmaking. We don't really have that" in New Orleans.

There are other production studios in the area -- the UNO-run Nim's Center, as well as the 90,000-square-foot Second Line Stages taking shape in the Lower Garden District -- but nothing with the size or business model of Louisiana Film Studios.

"The analogy I use," Read said, "is a studio is like a hotel for your production: You might need room service, you might need to go downstairs and have a meeting."

Joshua Throne, the unit production manager for "The Expendables," said the concept of everything in one place is an attractive one.

"You have your offices, you will have some sort of stage or warehouse facility, you will have your mill, you will have your sets. Generally, outside the studio area, you won't find these in a single, condensed area."

So if a cast or crew member needs to go from the business offices to, say, one of the production's sets, it usually means driving through traffic.

"New Orleans presents its own challenges and expenses that go along with it," Throne said. "There are creative advantages that go along with shooting here -- you don't have diversity of looks in other places -- but you have more traffic, more congestion, potholes."

In an industry where time is money, that is not a minor consideration.

Without the Louisiana Film Studios setup, staging a production the size of "The Expendables" in New Orleans "would have been difficult," Throne said. "We would have been more scattered. Having a central hub like this has been extremely good for our situation."

To hear Forman tell it, the rank-and-file crew members are just as happy. "The reason we know we're doing something right," he said, "is when we walk through the sets, the crews are putting their arms around us and saying, 'Thanks for doing this.'¤"

On a wall in Forman's office hangs a dry-erase board listing upcoming productions considered potential clients for Louisiana Film Studios, as well the names of potential permanent tenants, in the mold of Cinelease. There is a healthy number of names on the board.

But Forman and Read know a lot of work must be done before Louisiana Film Studios comes even close to resembling the optimistic vision reflected on the easel-mounted artist's rendering in the corner of Forman's office.

"Our goal is, after 'Expendables' and 'Dead of Night,' is to slow down" and get back to molding the facility into the original vision, Forman said.

As it stands now, aside from the Louisiana Film Studios sign on the facade, the Edwards Avenue facility still looks a lot more like a grocery warehouse complex than a movie studio.

The high-ceilinged warehouse-cum-soundstages are still fairly primitive, little more than shells. Much of the office space still needs overhauling. A pair of communal gathering areas -- a break room that will retain its Winn-Dixie decor as an homage to the building's former life, and "the Who Dat Lounge," complete with fleur-de-lis design on the floor -- are in various stages of construction. The future commissary is just that -- in the future.

But there are signs of progress.

Inside one of the hangar-like soundstages last week, the fuselage of a military aircraft was being prepped for use in "The Expendables." A ship set will rise in a parking lot just beyond the armed studio security guards who could easily double as extras in a Stallone film.

Out back, a bulldozer was grading the blank-slate back lot area in preparation for its first set piece: a Brazilian palace-fortress complex. "We're building a replica of a palace we're shooting in Brazil," Throne said. "One we can manipulate and actually destroy."

Studio officials haven't decided what shape the back lot area will take after "The Expendables" leaves. Maybe parts of the Brazilian fortress will stay. A New York City skyline could be added. A French Quarter set is another possibility.

"We have a lot of work to do," Forman said. "We keep changing our vision because we see the needs of projects that we have."

But their dream factory is becoming reality, and Read said he hopes outsiders take notice.

"When the industry looks at us from the outside," he said, "my hope and prayer is they say, 'Look, Louisiana is stepping up. They've been talking about doing a studio in the New Orleans area for years -- and now it's happening.'"

Movie critic Mike Scott be reached at mscott@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3444.

Picture by: Kathy Anderson

Friday, March 27, 2009

Even Gov. Jindal Wants to Keep Louisiana's Film Tax Credits


This story is a good representation of the states tax incentives and what they have accomplished. I think it is great that Governor Jindal wants to keep at 25%. With that being said, without being more competitive with New Mexico, Georgia and Michigan we will have a hard time keeping up. Georgia is the biggest threat with a 30% incentive, great crew base and many production studios. Without Louisiana moving the tax incentives up to 30% we as a state will fall to the wayside of other states showing that they are more aggressive. Please write your Legislators and tell them that you want a increase of the tax incentives to keep competitive with other states. The Legislative session will start in mid April and they will be discussing this subject then. As of now they have no intention of raising it so your voice counts. Please get behind this issue and support the raising of the tax incentives to 30%.

Christopher Moore



Story by JB: Unknown author

Louisiana's an interesting case study to look at when it comes to film tax credits. It's smaller than Wisconsin population wise and has a slightly smaller economy in terms of GSP, but it was one of the first states to begin offering film tax credits in 2002.

In fact, Louisiana's plan was far more generous, providing a tax credit to companies that were willing to help create an "entertainment infrastructure" -- i.e. studios, set, production companies with brick and mortor headquarters -- in the state. It worked, and Shreveport, of all places, has become something of a modern Southern movie-making Mecca:


Less than three years after Shreveport became Louisiana's de facto film capital, the city's movie industry is riding high. Thanks to aggressive statewide financial incentives, the casino-friendly city on the Red River has become one of the most attractive and busiest locations in the country for feature film and television production, surpassing Austin, once vaunted as Hollywood South, with stunning speed and volume.

Since late 2005, when Hurricane Katrina forced film production from New Orleans and Baton Rouge to the Shreveport-Bossier City area, Shreveport has seized upon filmmaking almost entirely on the power of a 6-year-old financial incentive program, which offers filmmakers 25 percent cash rebates (or tax credits) for all in-state spending on things like equipment rentals, food service, hotel rooms and, at a lower rate, labor. The primary rebates are five times the rate of Texas movie incentives.

Louisiana's current production tax credits are exactly the same as Wiscosnin's. While the infrastucture incentives have since expired, and with the production credit set to dimminsih over the next few years, Gov. Jindal wants to extend the current rate of production credits:


Jindal said he'll support legislation this spring to prevent those tax credits from expiring. He also said he would back extension of tax credit programs for certain investments on research and development that have benefited chemical and other industries.

The best known tax break is a 25 percent tax credit for movie makers that is scheduled to drop to 20 percent next year and 15 percent in 2012. Jindal said he'll support a bill to keep the tax credit at 25 percent through 2012.


With growth like this it's easy to see why:

Employment in Louisiana’s film industry increased at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22 percent from 2001 to 2007. This compares to a national growth rate of 1.8 percent annually over the same time period. Although the average wages are lower than the national levels, they have increased at an average annual rate of 8.2 percent, much faster than inflation.
Motion picture projects that received state tax credits generated $26.4 million in state and local tax revenue during 2007, of which approximately two-thirds ($14.6 million) went to the State of Louisiana.
According to the Louisiana Economic Development Department, there are several applications pending certification for infrastructure development which were submitted before the program expired. Combined, the estimated budgets for the 54 proposed film studio projects are worth nearly $3.2 billion.
And here's probably the most important figure:

State of Louisiana will issue an estimated $115 million in tax credits for projects with certified and estimated expenditures incurred during 2007. Combined these projects had an estimated $429 million in qualified expenditures which generated a total economic benefit to the State of $763 million. This represents an economic stimulus of $6.64 for every $1 in tax credits issued for qualifying motion picture expenditures during 2007.
That's not a small multiplier and it's going straight back into the economy.


Posted by Jb at 12:04 PM
Labels: Dept. of Cultural Affairs, government, state/local

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Mickey Rourke, Sylvester Stallone, Josh Brolin and Forest Whitaker among actors filming in New Orleans



Posted by Mike Scott, Movie critic, The Times-Picayune March 10, 2009 4:30AM


Mickey Rourke is headed to town to work on the action-thriller 'The Expendables.'In what has become an annual rite, local film industry activity is rising with the temperatures, as a number of major productions -- with a number of major stars attached -- come to town to take advantage of New Orleans' springtime scenery and the state's tax incentives.

Among the notable names on tap: recent Oscar nominee Mickey Rourke, past Oscar winner Forest Whitaker, Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li and Dolph Lundgren.

And all that's just on "The Expendables," an action thriller from Nu Image/Millennium Films set to shoot for nine weeks locally starting in late April -- after a three-week stint in Brazil -- and one of three high-profile projects scheduled to set up camp in New Orleans this spring.

The movie, about a team of mercenaries involved in a plan to overthrow a South American dictator, is based on a script by Stallone, who will star and direct. It recently earned headlines when it was announced California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would play a bit part in the film, but those scenes reportedly will be shot in California.


Sylvester Stallone will direct and star in 'The Expendables.'"The Expendables" will be joined in town by the DC Comics film "Jonah Hex," a Warner Bros.-backed supernatural Western that will star another recent Oscar nominee, Josh Brolin, in the title role, and two-time nominee John Malkovich. (And which, according to the Hollywood Reporter, is this close to landing Megan Fox of "Transformers").

In a July interview on the set of the locally shot dramatic comedy "I Love You Phillip Morris," starring Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor, "Jonah Hex" producer Andrew Lazar ("Get Smart," "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind") said the film would take advantage of the area's stock of old forts and other Civil War-era settings.

It will shoot from mid-April through June.

At the same time, Brandon Routh, who starred as the Man of Steel in 2006's "Superman Returns," will be in town for the indie project "Dead of Night," another supernatural-comics-inspired movie (translation: potential movie franchise).


Oscar nominee Josh Brolin is coming to play the title role in 'Jonah Hex.'That one is inspired by the Italian comic book "Dylan Dog" -- which is the name of Routh's main character -- and tells the story of a private investigator who stumbles onto the world of the undead. Originally set in London, the story has been reset in Louisiana for the film's purposes.

Greg Cannom, who last month won his fourth Oscar, for his makeup work on the locally shot "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," has also signed up for "Dead of Night."

Add to all that the continued local presence of two major TV productions -- the Disney Channel toddler-targeted "The Imagination Movers" and the HBO drama "Treme" -- and the local film industry appears to be in full stride. That's a big change from recent months, which saw a lull in major projects dating back to the wrapping of Werner Herzog's "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans" in late August, and two movie-of-the-week projects in early December.

A recent Twitter update from a local film-crew member said it all: "Drought for months and then all of a sudden job offers from everywhere, and different departments even."


Brandon Routh is set to work on the supernatural thriller 'Dead of Night.'That whole slow-winter/busy-spring thing has become a reliable local trend, as film projects flock to south Louisiana in the spring and summer, slow to a trickle in the fall, then all but dry up in winter.

"I kept telling everybody, 'Don't get too upset,' " said Jennifer Day, the head of the city's Office of Film and Video, of the recent winter doldrums. "Granted, our pace is slightly less than last year, but to be honest, 21 major projects (in 2008) is pretty amazing. You can't have a record year every year. We're really looking at a sustainable number of projects coming."

Those include five additional "solid leads," Day said, although they're not solid enough for her to reveal details. (One can safely speculate, however, that Forest Whitaker's planned Louis Armstrong biopic is likely one of them.) There are a handful of others considering shooting in the area but are not seen as slam-dunks just yet, Day said.

"There's a natural ebb and flow," Day said. "This is not a traditional industry. We forget that. We have to keep reminding ourselves that this isn't a 24/7, 365 industry. It's a project-by-project industry."

Jindal seeks extension of movie, sound, video game credits





BATON ROUGE — Tax credits for filming movies, recording music, manufacturing video games and promoting research and development cost Louisiana about $8 million a year but bring more money and attention than that to the state, Gov. Bobby Jindal says.

The governor announced during a news conference Monday he will propose legislation to extend the entertainment tax credits in a package of six extensions of credits that are scheduled to expire or be phased out.
However, a Shreveport movie industry official says the governor’s proposal doesn’t go far enough.
“We want to make sure Louisiana keeps a competitive edge,” Jindal said. “Extending these existing tax incentives is vital to keeping our economy growing.”
“I don’t think it’s good enough,” said Diego Martinez, president of Shreveport-based Studio Operations, a division of Nu Image/Millennium Films, which has shot nine movies in Shreveport.
“We’re not going to try to match Georgia?” he said, referring to an incentives race between states that has built up steam in recent years.
In May, Georgia enacted its Entertainment Industry Investment Act, which offers movies a credit worth up to 30 percent on production and post-production expenditures. Louisiana’s movie credit is 25 percent.
Georgia also offers a sales tax exemption, worth up to 8 percent, on locally purchased goods.
Industry professionals are worried Louisiana’s incentives, as they stand, put the state at a competitive disadvantage.
“What we need now is a concerted effort by everyone who has a stake in this to figure out what is common ground and push forward,” Martinez said.
Though he’d like to see a stronger proposal from Jindal, Martinez sees the governor’s early interest in the incentives as a positive sign. “The fact that the governor is making a comment on this is a good thing.”
The proposals will cost the state $8 million a year when investors cash in the credits, Jindal said, but the state gains much more from having movies, recordings and video games produced here.
Since the state took the lead in offering movie production tax credits, 40 states are competing with similar credits. In recent years, Louisiana has ranked third in movie production behind California and New York.
The film production industry spent more than $429 million in Louisiana in 2007, resulting in an economic impact of $763 million, reported Economics Research Associates.
The governor wants the Motion Picture Investor Tax Credit incentive to remain at 25 percent for another two years. It is set to drop to 20 percent in July 2010 then to 15 percent in July 2012, where it would remain indefinitely unless the Louisiana Legislature changes it.
Besides extending the credits, the governor proposes tightening some of the requirements but says the changes wouldn't affect the credits’ effectiveness.“It will improve the efficiency of the programs.”Jindal said he wants “several targeted technical improvements made to the existing law by tightening the requirements that are used to certify film production spending, and beginning a ‘Louisiana Entertainment’ branding component for productions receiving the tax credit.”
Georgia’s base tax credit is 20 percent. Another 10 percent credit is available to movie producers if a production company includes a Georgia promotional logo in the qualified finished feature film, TV series, music video or video game project.
Jindal said his proposed changes would “improve the efficiency of the incentive program while allowing the state to take advantage of the marketing opportunity presented because of the large audiences who ultimately view the movies being made in Louisiana.”
Another step is to extend and pare down the Motion Picture Infrastructure Tax Credit so it focuses on “priority investments in film facilities.” Jindal said he would work with the Legislature to target local government priority projects.
The infrastructure credit grants tax breaks for constructing sound stages and other facilities used in filming, such as the huge Louisiana Wave Studio in Shreveport. Lawmakers previously trimmed out a loophole that allowed construction of condominiums and a swimming pool for its guests.
Eliminating a proposed phase-out of the Digital Interactive Media Production Tax Credit, which is aimed at attracting video game development, animation and special effects projects, could draw other companies to the state. The uncertainty is putting future investment on hold, Jindal said.
Entertainment Arts (EA) Sports, the first company to utilize the credit, announced a test facility in Baton Rouge last year.
Jindal also proposes extension of the Sound Recording Investor Tax Credit, a tax break for developers of sound studios and music recording operations.
Also on his list are extending the Research and Development and Angel Investor tax credit programs, the latter of which grants tax breaks for individuals who lend start-up money to new companies. Louisiana-based Nerjyzed Entertainment, which makes black college football video games complete with bands at halftime, is an example of a company that benefited from an angel investor in the program.


Since the state took the lead in offering movie production tax credits, 40 states are competing with similar credits. In recent years, Louisiana has ranked third in movie production behind California and New York.
The film production industry spent more than $429 million in Louisiana in 2007, resulting in an economic impact of $763 million, reported Economics Research Associates.


The governor wants the Motion Picture Investor Tax Credit incentive to remain at 25 percent for another two years. It is set to drop to 20 percent in July 2010 then to 15 percent in July 2012, where it would remain indefinitely unless the Louisiana Legislature changes it.
Besides extending the credits, the governor proposes tightening some of the requirements but says the changes wouldn't affect the credits’ effectiveness.“It will improve the efficiency of the programs.”Jindal said he wants “several targeted technical improvements made to the existing law by tightening the requirements that are used to certify film production spending, and beginning a ‘Louisiana Entertainment’ branding component for productions receiving the tax credit.”


Georgia’s base tax credit is 20 percent. Another 10 percent credit is available to movie producers if a production company includes a Georgia promotional logo in the qualified finished feature film, TV series, music video or video game project.


Jindal said his proposed changes would “improve the efficiency of the incentive program while allowing the state to take advantage of the marketing opportunity presented because of the large audiences who ultimately view the movies being made in Louisiana.”
Another step is to extend and pare down the Motion Picture Infrastructure Tax Credit so it focuses on “priority investments in film facilities.” Jindal said he would work with the Legislature to target local government priority projects.


The infrastructure credit grants tax breaks for constructing sound stages and other facilities used in filming, such as the huge Louisiana Wave Studio in Shreveport. Lawmakers previously trimmed out a loophole that allowed construction of condominiums and a swimming pool for its guests.
Eliminating a proposed phase-out of the Digital Interactive Media Production Tax Credit, which is aimed at attracting video game development, animation and special effects projects, could draw other companies to the state. The uncertainty is putting future investment on hold, Jindal said.
Entertainment Arts (EA) Sports, the first company to utilize the credit, announced a test facility in Baton Rouge last year.
Jindal also proposes extension of the Sound Recording Investor Tax Credit, a tax break for developers of sound studios and music recording operations.
Also on his list are extending the Research and Development and Angel Investor tax credit programs, the latter of which grants tax breaks for individuals who lend start-up money to new companies. Louisiana-based Nerjyzed Entertainment, which makes black college football video games complete with bands at halftime, is an example of a company that benefited from an angel investor in the program.
Article: Shreveporttimes.com
By Mike Hastenmhasten@gannett.comand Alexandyr Kentakent@gannett.com

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Millennium pushing forward with studio. By Alexandyr Kent

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

Monday, March 2, 2009

Study: Film industry adds $763M to state during 2007

By Alexandyr Kent
akent@gannett.com
March 2, 2009 4:35 pm

In an economic impact study released Monday, the motion picture industry is estimated to have added $763 million to the Louisiana economy during 2007 at a cost of $105 million to the state.

The 96-page study was authored by Economics Research Associates for Louisiana Economic Development Department. The Chicago-based consulting firm examined the impact of the state’s tax incentive programs for the motion picture, music and digital media industries.


Here are a few highlights for the motion picture industry:
The state attracted 135 movie and TV projects between 2002 and 2007 that qualified for state tax credits. In 2008 alone, the number of projects was 80.

In-state production and post-production expenses have increased steadily from year to year. In 2005, projects spent $238.6 million directly in Louisiana. In 2007, the number was $429.2 million.

During 2007, an average movie and TV project spent an average of $5.9 million in Louisiana (on in-state expenditures). In 2002, the number was $4 million. In 2005, the number was $6.6 million.

Between 2001 and 2007, employment in the state’s motion picture industry grew 22 percent annually, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In 2007, the motion picture industry directly employed 3,310 workers in Louisiana. An additional 2,920 jobs were supported indirectly, for a total of 6,230 jobs which earned $203.7 million in wages. The average salary among all these jobs was about $32,700.

Wages within the state’s motion picture increased 8.2 per percent per year between 2001 and 2007, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The State of Louisiana will issue an estimated $115.1 million in tax credits for productions made in 2007 and recoup $14.6 million in state taxes as a direct result of these projects. The incentive program amounts to cost, or loss, of $100.5 million for the State of Louisiana.

In calculating the impact of the motion picture industry on the state’s economy, the report noted that $429.2 million of direct in-state spending for 2007 ultimately amounted to $763 million of economic benefit to Louisiana, when things like rents, royalties, profits, dividends, property taxes and various indirect benefits are factored in. That means that $6.64 of new spending, or economic stimulus, was generated for every $1 in tax credits issued by the state.