When Patrick Mulhearn gets to the office each day, he sometimes has to remind himself that he’s still in Baton Rouge, not on the grounds of a major movie studio in southern California. The 3-year-old facility off Airline Highway, where Mulhearn is director of studio operations, is bustling with so much activity these days it’s surreal—and the level of activity is only expected to increase.
It makes for something of a dream job in an industry that Mulhearn has helped grow at the state level over the past few years. Until September, he was assistant director of film and television in the state’s Office of Entertainment Industries Development. In that capacity, he worked with just about every movie and television crew that came to Louisiana.
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“It was about the coolest state job someone could have,” he says.
He might have stayed there, too, had not the opportunity at Raleigh Studios opened up. Mulhearn describes it as an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and he couldn’t pass it up.
“I may not have made the leap to the private sector if the Legislature last summer had not made movie-production tax credits permanent,” he says. “That really solidified our commitment to this industry.”
Mulhearn, a Natchez, Miss., native, didn’t set out to build a career in the entertainment industry. He graduated from LSU with degrees in English and political science. Law school seemed the obvious next step, but after one semester he realized his future lay elsewhere. He went back to graduate school in mass communication, then worked for several years in advertising and TV news until the state job opened up. It was a perfect fit.
As he looks to the future, Mulhearn wants to continue to grow the local movie industry in which he so fervently believes. As the father of two young sons, ages 3 years and 3 months, he wants to help create a vibrant and dynamic economy for Louisiana that can sustain the next generation. He is hoping to do his part in the movie industry.
Says Mulhearn: “The sky is the limit.”
Age: 31
How do you make yourself heard in the discussion on how to move Baton Rouge forward? “I tweet.”
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