Largest film studio complex outside Hollywood rises in Harahan

A collection of blighted office buildings and warehouse space on a 25-acre site in Harahan is being transformed into a Hollywood-style film studio complex that is expected to become one of the largest outside Hollywood. Louisiana Film Studios, a former Winn-Dixie grocery distribution center that stood vacant for years, is in the early stages of renovation. Already the privately financed project has landed two big-budget movies that are expected to begin filming in coming weeks. Once complete, the complex will provide more than 500,000 square feet of space for movie sets, soundstages and other film production work. But unlike studios in California, or even the cutting-edge Albuquerque Studios in New Mexico, this one is far from glamorous. “It’s not fancy,” says Daniel Forman, a New Orleans native and Louisiana Film Studios president. “But what we’ve learned is that production companies don’t want fancy. What they want is functional space.” The site is emerging from little more than shells of buildings. Plans call for creation of six adjustable soundstages and workspace for wardrobe, among other functions. The facility opened in March, months ahead of its projected fall 2009 start, to accommodate the independent thriller Dead of Night and the action flick The Expendables, starring Sylvester Stallone. Both were seeking production space in the New Orleans area this spring. — The Associated Press