Louisiana Tagged Articles at Cinematical
LA. town goes Hollywood with giant studio complex
Filed under: Newsstand »
I lived in Louisiana until I was well in my twenties,
and even reported on state politics there for a year, but I still had to look up the town of Robert on a map. The small
town near Hammond has been known chiefly as a campground area ... until now. Louisiana Entertainment Associates
announced on Tuesday plans to build a huge, elaborate movie studio complex in the area, which is equally convenient to
New Orleans and Baton Rouge (about 50 miles away from either city). The 150-acre Robert complex will include 250,000 square feet of sound stage and broadcast stage space, which will be completed before the other amenities: a film laboratory, a luxury hotel, condos, shops, and even a golf course. Alfredo Leone and Robert DeMilia, movie producers who founded Louisiana Entertainment Associates, want to finish the studio space by the end of the year. The rest of the ambitious project will take about three years to complete.
The idea is that this spiffy new studio complex will lure filmmakers from other states and even other countries to the Pelican State. I suppose I wasn't the only person to notice how well New Orleans-shot productions were faring at the box office, after all. Steven Seagal intends to film Prince of Pistols in New Orleans this year, but he may be too early to reap the benefits of the new studio complex. That is, assuming the complex is actually built. It seems that DeMilia and Danny Aiello united in 2002 to build a similar complex, Stapleton Studios, at Staten Island ... but arguments with New York City officials caused the plan to fail. Hopefully the complex in Robert will meet with better success.
Wanna break into film? Try the bayou
Filed under: DIY/Filmmaking », Newsstand »
The Los Angeles Times has been examining the booming film industry in Louisiana, where tax incentives and cheap production costs have attracted more film productions than ever. In 2003, five films were shot in the Bayou State; in 2004, that number rocketed to 27, including recent big-name releases The Dukes of Hazzard and The Skeleton Key. Looks like Big Momma's House 2 was filmed in spitting distance of my little brother's house.Meanwhile, construction is about to begin on a $20 million movie studio complex in the greater New Orleans area. According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, the complex will include soundstages, digital postproduction facilities, and an outdoor replica of the French Quarter.
The one problem filmmakers are encountering is a lack of qualified people to work as extras or as crew. The LA Times article included an example from Big Momma's House 2: the casting director couldn't find enough attractive actresses for a hot-tub scene, so they had to import talent from other states. (As a native of the area, I find this difficult to believe.) Competition is also fierce to hire experienced production crew members in the area. New Orleans is starting a municipal training program for grips and electricians and hopes to expand to other film-related jobs. I wish the city would start a training program for out-of-state actors to sound authentically New Orleanian.
Hollywood? Forget about it. If you want production or acting experience, perhaps you should migrate to the Big Easy.
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