Los Angeles commuters are accustomed to road closures and detours because of movie production in the area. Hollywood barflies anxiously await the next celebrity to walk in the door, hoping to brush shoulders with someone they saw on television the night before. Aspiring actors in California remain on the lookout for their next brush with fame, standing in casting lines for hours only to be an unrecognizable face in a crowd on the big silver screen. Lately, however, this lifestyle, largely associated with the glitzy Hollywood hills, is becoming common in the other “LA”-Louisiana, that is. Because of Louisiana’s diverse landscapes and cultures, as well as the state’s tax incentives, many in the movie industry have dubbed the state “South Hollywood.”
According to the Louisiana Governor’s Office of Film and Television, five projects currently are being filmed in the state, including “Dukes of Hazzard,” “All the Kings Men” and an untitled Lindsay Lohan movie.
“South Louisiana has always been a natural attraction to the movie industry because of the bayou region, but incentives on the state level make it even more attractive,” Kathy Terracina, president and CEO of the Thibodaux Chamber of Commerce, said.
In 2002, the Louisiana legislature passed the Louisiana Motion Picture Incentive Act, which helped attract major motion picture productions, such as “Runaway Jury,” “Ray,” “Because of Winn Dixie” and “Mr. 3000,” to the Pelican State.
Production companies can apply for a tax credit of 10 percent of the total payroll of their state hires for productions exceeding $300,000 and 20 percent for productions exceeding $1 million.
Another tax credit returns 10 percent of any investment for productions more than $300,000 and 15 percent to productions exceeding $8 million. Sales and use taxes are also exempted from production companies reporting expenditures exceeding $250,000.
“Since the (tax) incentives were passed, filmmaking revenues have improved to $100 million in the 2002-03 fiscal year-up from $30 million in the 2001-02 fiscal year,” Gov. Kathleen Blanco told The Louisiana Weekly in December. “For the first time in decades, Louisiana is a model for other states to follow in terms of growing a prolific film and television industry from the ground up.
“The state’s new film industry business model has created partnerships with venture capital companies, banks, investment firms, tax credit attorneys and corporate businesses to provide local funding and financial assistance to aid in the filmmaking process.”
According to the Louisiana Department of Labor figures, the motion picture and sound recording industries accounted for a state average employment of 3,653 in the second quarter of 2004.
Elizabeth Coulon, co-developer of Louisiana Casting Database, has witnessed these partnerships and the growth of the movie industry in Louisiana first hand. Coulon met partner Timothee Hammond at the University of New Orleans. He was working on a master of fine arts degree in film production; she was an undergraduate in drama and communications.
Coulon became an intern for the production, “Unchain My Heart: The Ray Charles Story,” the working title for “Ray” starring Jamie Fox. Hammond had already been working on the project, which required more than 4,000 extras. Coulon said when the production company packed up and left after filming, she and Hammond were left with about 6,000 files on Louisiana citizens hoping to be movie extras.
“After that project, I started having extras calling me up at home, wondering how they could become involved with other productions,” Coulon said. “To meet that need, I partnered with Timothee to develop an online database to serve as a resource for the film industry.”
Anyone can register to the Louisiana Casting database at http://louisianacasting.com. For $10 a year, members will have their information stored in the database, can automatically update their personal information if it changes and have access to an online forum and a news section featuring upcoming entertainment industry events. Coulon said there are currently more than 3,000 members.
“A lot have registered to the database in the past couple of weeks because of the upcoming Lindsay Lohan production,” she said. “Since ‘Ray’ we have been jumping from project to project.”
Typically, production companies hire Louisiana Casting and provide them with a breakdown of what type and quantity of actors needed. Louisiana Casting searches its database and holds open casting calls to accommodate the production company’s requests.
The largest production Louisiana Casting worked for was “Glory Road,” a movie chronicling 1966 Texas Western coach Don Haskins’ way to the NCAA national championship with all-black basketball starters. The production called for approximately 4,500 extras.
Several of the major motion pictures filming in Louisiana have not passed up Thibodaux on their journeys throughout the state. Terracina said in the last couple of years, four to six major productions have filmed in the area, including “Ray,” “Because of Winn Dixie,” “Dukes of Hazzard” and a couple of smaller movies.
“They almost always film at Laurel Valley or in the Kraemer area,” Terracina said. “We haven’t had anything filmed in the downtown or corporate areas yet.”
Terracina said Thibodaux’s biggest productions include “Ray” and “Because of Winn Dixie.”
“Just last week the Travel Channel called about filming a program on this diverse area,” Terracina said. “Louisiana is just unique from the rest of the country with its blend of people and cultures. That definitely helps attract film production companies to the state.
