Name any movie filmed in Louisiana during the past three years, and the chances are great that Andre Champagne has worked on it. Since 2007, Champagne says, his company has had a hand in 95% of all films made in the state.
But you won’t see him in front of the camera. The Napoleonville native has always made his name behind the scenes. After graduating from LSU in 2002, Champagne moved to Los Angeles to get his start as an independent producer.
“That was basically where my education in film came from,” he says, “working at all different places.”
Champagne took on whatever job he could get, from producer to assistant. But his biggest interest was in the business side. Today, his company is a big player in Louisiana’s film industry by providing transportation to productions across the state.
Champagne considers each movie project a new venture. As an entrepreneur, he says, that’s the most exciting part about the job.
“It’s one of the fastest-evolving industries,” he says. “You deal with new talents all the time, and it’s very inspiring to work with such creativity.”
Champagne and his business partner started Hollywood Trucks in 2007, as Louisiana’s lucrative tax incentive program was just getting under way. As the film industry has grown, so has his company. He now manages 15 employees and hundreds of trucks.
Champagne is sharing his love of the entertainment industry in more ways than one. In 2009, he launched Scene Magazine, a monthly publication that offers readers an inside look at the television, music and movie business in Louisiana.
“It’s a vanguard market,” he says. “Anytime you’re first in a vanguard market, you have opportunities that never exist in mature markets. I greatly encourage people to stay in the state because the opportunity is so much greater for accelerated growth.”
