Film exec: ‘Breaking Dawn’ shows good work of La. movie industry

The decision by Summit Entertainment to film parts of the last two Twilight movies in Baton Rouge is a big win for the Louisiana movie industry, says the head of the state film office. “This speaks to the good work that we’re doing at the state and city level,” says Chris Stelly, executive director of film and television for Louisiana Economic Development. Summit Entertainment, the studio that has made the blockbuster series of movies about teen vampires and werewolves, announced Friday Breaking Dawn will be shot in Baton Rouge and Vancouver, British Columbia. While officials with the studio say no decisions had been made regarding how much will be filmed in the U.S., the speculation is that much of the interior shooting will happen in Baton Rouge, because the book is set in the Pacific Northwest. “Celtic Studios is the obvious place for them to build some of those big sets,” Stelly says. Patrick Mulhearn, director of studio operations for Raleigh Studios, which runs the Celtic space, says he couldn’t comment on Breaking Dawn filming. But he called the production a “huge win” for Baton Rouge. “We’re not done yet,” says Mulhearn, who says another big-budget project might be announced in a couple of weeks with plans to shoot in Baton Rouge this fall. Louisiana has been home for some big budget movies over the past few years, including The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Battle: Los Angeles and Green Lantern. But Breaking Dawn ranks much higher on a pop-culture scale. The two most recent movies in the series both raked in more than $200 million within 10 days of release. Armies of fans camped out for the Twilight movies days before they were released, and the stars are frequent paparazzi subjects. “This will generate a lot of hooting and hollering,” Stelly says. “But this affirms our position in the movie industry.” —Timothy Boone