Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Movies Are Slow to return to Louisiana, but they are Back!

The movie industry is a very mobile industry, so when Georgia in Early 2008 came up with a better incentive than Louisiana, productions and crew left Louisiana in droves. Where Louisiana excelled in 2008, Georgia ran with it in 2009. Louisiana, with the typical politics, wasted valuable time trying to come up with a better incentives to match or out do other states loosing millions in productions in the process. Finally in July, the Governor signed a better incentive putting Louisiana back in the game. Wasting no time, productions instantly were back in force, with 3 in Shreveport, 4 or so in New Orleans 3 in Baton Rouge and a couple in other parts of the state. Now we can see if the productions will pay off and the crew that has waited it out will get back to work.

One major production, Battle Los Angeles, will film most of their exterior shots in Shreveport while most studio work will be done in Baton Rouge which is a major boost to both markets who have lacked in productions this year. Louisiana had over 80 productions last year will be lucky to break 40 this year which is a huge decrease in movies and money.

Louisiana may have a few other films coming in before the end of the year but of course some are rumors and others may run into money problems, you never know until they are set up and have opened an office. Nicolas Cage is supposed to film one more film before the end of the year under contract with Millennium studios. Secretariat is rumored to film in the fall in Lafayette. First Wedding, Then Marriage is in pre-production in New Orleans and a few other productions are still looking at shooting in Louisiana to take advantage of our new Tax Incentives.

This year may not be record breaking though it has been bank breaking and 2010 is looking better and better. Thank you to all who have stuck it out in Louisiana and did not make the move to better and greener pastures and let's hope 2010 is a steller year.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

The Story Behind: BATTLE: LOS ANGELES in 2011


The story behind Battle Los Angeles has it's origins based on a true event in Los Angeles in the early 1940's. Here is some background about the real story and the movie that will be shot on location in Shreveport and Baton Rouge.


Wikipedia Story:


The Battle of Los Angeles is the name given by contemporary news agencies to a sighting of one or more unidentified flying objects which took place from late February 24 to early February 25, 1942 in which eyewitness reports of an unknown object or objects over Los Angeles, California, triggered a massive anti-aircraft artillery barrage. The Los Angeles incident occurred less than three months after America's entry into World War II as a result of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Initially the target of the aerial barrage was thought to be an attacking force from Japan, but it was later suggested to be imaginary and a case of "war nerves", a lost weather balloon, a blimp, a Japanese fire balloon or psychological warfare technique, staged for the benefit of coastal industrial sites, or even an extraterrestrial craft. The true nature of the object or objects allegedly remains "unknown".



Sci-fi Alien Battles in LA in February 2011.

By Jarrod Sarafin August 18, 2009Source: Columbia Pictures


Columbia Pictures has a date in mind as to when Aaron Eckhart will fight off an alien invasion in the streets of Los Angeles. The studio has set their sci-fi action piece, Battle: Los Angeles, to premiere in theaters on February 18, 2011. At the moment, that's the only wide release set for that weekend but as time moves forward we're sure some other studio will line up one of their releases for the dame date.
The film will star Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Michael Pena and Bridget Moynahan. Jonathan Liebesman is directing from a screenplay by Chris Bertolini and Scott Silver.
Plot Concept: "Battle: Los Angeles" revolves around a Marine staff sergeant (Eckhart) and his new platoon's battle against an alien invasion on the streets of Los Angeles. Rodriguez will play Crpl. Adriana Santos, a member of a radio battalion. Pena plays the father of a boy the Marines find along the way, and Moynahan plays a veterinarian.

Official unfazed by other states’ film incentives

City Business New Orleans,

California has joined the film and television incentive game, giving Louisiana’s tax break program more competition. But the state program’s leaders don’t see Louisiana leaving the limelight anytime soon.
A $500 million incentive program signed into law by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in February began taking applications July 1, adding California to a list of more than 40 states with active incentive programs, Louisiana Office of Entertainment Development director Chris Stelly said.
When Louisiana began its program in 2002, only a handful of other states had similar programs, but the added competition hasn’t hurt, Stelly said.
“I don’t think it’s going to affect Louisiana,” he said. “You have to take the sum total of everything we’re doing into account. We have a deep crew base; it’s a lot more cost-efficient to shoot here with lower crew rates and lower hotel rates.”
Four feature-length movies are filming in Louisiana and nine more are in preproduction, Stelly said.
“We’re consistently in the top five states,” he said. “When folks are setting up their budgets for movies, Louisiana is always in the top five for locations. They look at the incentive and they measure the numbers to see what they’re going to get back by shooting here, but then they see the other factors like artistic value and crew base. Creatively we have become a great fit for a number of pictures.”
An upcoming film, “Battle of Los Angeles,” will film throughout Louisiana despite being set in Hollywood, Stelly said.

Story by:
www.neworleanscitybusiness.com