Early today, the Louisiana Entertainment office released a list of film and television activity under way this month in the state. All six projects are being done in New Orleans. Baton Rouge is noticeably absent from the list.
Coincidentally, a front page wrap advertisement in The Advocate this morning promoted a mattress sale being held in Stage 5 at Celtic Studios, which routinely leases out its cavernous sound stages for alternative uses now that most of the studio’s movie and TV business has dried up.
“Revenue is the name of the game,” says Aaron Bayham, Celtic’s director of operations. “We do what we have to do to keep the doors open.”
The ad and the announcement, coming on the same day, are stark reminders of how much the fate of what was once called Hollywood South has changed in the past two years.
In 2015, the Legislature curtailed the lucrative tax credit program that had attracted investment and tent pole productions like The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn and Battleship to Baton Rouge over the preceding decade, effectively killing the industry altogether.
In an attempt to recoup some of the business, lawmakers revisited the program during the 2017 Legislative session and made changes to make it more competitive. But so far, two months after the new law was enacted, there isn’t much interest from the industry.
A quick check of Louisiana Economic Development’s Fastlane website, which tracks tax credit applications, shows no new productions anywhere in the state have applied for the incentive.
“Even though the new rules have been passed, I’m not sure how much the industry really understands them,” Bayham says. “We’ve gotten a few calls, but they’re mostly just inquiries.”
Chris Stelly, who heads Louisiana Entertainment, says his office has only just begun promoting the new program and actively marketing it to movie and TV producers nationwide. He says marketing efforts will increase in the coming months and expects new business to follow.
“Baton Rouge has a lot to offer and we’re fielding inquiries,” he says. “I think you’ll see a lot more to come as we get into the depths of administering this new program.”
In the meantime, Celtic Studios is leasing the 30,000-square-foot Stage 5 for things like the mattress sale, leasing its 25,000-square-foot Oak Tree office building to the state’s Restore Louisiana program, and leasing the nearly 31,000-square-foot Stage 4 to Circle Graphics.
“But stages two, six, seven and eight are still available so we could take production,” he says.
Bayham isn’t ready to throw in the towel yet, but he hopes activity will pick up soon.
“The few inquiries we’ve had are better than nothing,” he says. “Because for the past year and a half, the phone didn’t even ring.”
—Stephanie Riegel
