Saturday, June 13, 2009

What on tap for June 2009?

Here's the latest update from the state film office:

Welcome to (225) 342-FILM, the official hotline of Louisiana Entertainment. Here’s what’s happening for the third week of June 2009:

Pre-Production (8)

The Screen Gems feature film Straw Dogs starring James Marsden is in pre-production in Shreveport with shooting scheduled to begin Aug. 17 for eight weeks. Resumes and inquiries are being accepted by e-mail at strawdogslouisiana@gmail.com.

Horizon Entertainment’s first feature film Father of Invention starring Kevin Spacey and Johnny Knoxville is in pre-production in Jefferson Parish (New Orleans) with five weeks of shooting scheduled to begin June 29. Resumes and inquiries are being accepted by e-mail at fatherofinvention2009@gmail.com

The HBO television series True Blood starring Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer is in pre-production in the Baton Rouge area with shooting scheduled through July 13. Resumes and inquiries are being accepted by e-mail at truebloodbr@gmail.com. For extras casting information, please visit www.bamcastingla.com

The Films in Motion feature film Wrong Side of Town Part II starring Rob Van Dam and Batiste is pre-production in Baton Rouge with three weeks of shooting scheduled to begin during the second week of July. Resumes and inquiries are being accepted by e-mail at info@filmsinmotion.com.

The Most Wanted Films feature film Death House is in pre-production in Baton Rouge with shooting scheduled from July 15 through August 15. Inquiries are being accepted by e-mail at info@mostwantedfilms.com.

The Bullet Films feature film Jaws of the Mississippi is in pre-production in Lafayette with shooting scheduled to begin July 27. Resumes and inquiries are being accepted by e-mail at jobs@bulletfilms.net.

The Bullet Films feature film Stormbringer is in soft-prep Lafayette with shooting scheduled for to begin October 5. Resumes and inquiries are being accepted by e-mail at jobs@bulletfilms.net

The independent feature film Roadkill is in soft-prep in South Louisiana with shooting scheduled to begin in August. Resumes are being accepted by e-mail at roadkillresumes@gmail.com.

Now Filming (7)

The second season of the September Films A&E reality television series The Exterminators starring Billy Bretherton is shooting in the Shreveport area through the end of August. Inquiries are being accepted by e-mail at vexcon@bellsouth.net.

The Nu Image/Millennium feature film The Expendables starring Sylvester Stallone, Mickey Rourke, Jet Li, Jason Statham and a host of others is shooting in Jefferson Parish and the New Orleans area through July 31. Resumes for crew and inquiries are being accepted by e-mail at theexpendablesmovie@gmail.com.

The Fallen Angels Productions feature film Cotton is shooting in New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish through June 14. Inquiries are being accepted by e-mail cottonfilm@gmail.com.

The independent docu-fiction feature film Jar People is shooting in New Orleans through July 2. Inquiries are being accepted by e-mail at jarpeople@gmail.com.

The Conquest Films feature film Punishment is in shooting in Hammond with shooting scheduled through early July. Resumes and inquiries are being accepted by e-mail at punishment@rocketmail.com.

The Warner Bros. feature film Jonah Hex starring Josh Brolin, John Malkovich, and Megan Fox is shooting in St. Francisville and the New Orleans area through June 19. Inquiries are being accepted by e-mail at jonahhexnola@gmail.com. For extras casting, e-mail Jonahhex.extras@gmail.com

The Disney Channel children’s television series The Imagination Movers is shooting in Jefferson Parish through September 17. Resumes and inquiries are being accepted by e-mail at imaginationmovers1@earthlink.net.

And for more information about the film and television industry in Louisiana please visit us online at www.louisianaentertainment.gov.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

All These productions in Louisiana and Only One Film Slated for Shreveport??????
Looks like someone blew it!
I guess the word has been put out about Shreveport!

Anonymous said...

So how much does Arlena Acree make to bring one movie to Shreveport?

dragonhead said...

Is there any other way to get in contact with Most Wanted Films besides email? I've been trying to send them emails for months, but the box is always full.

Anonymous said...

Lets all thank Mayor Glover, Arlenna Acree, the Shreveport City Council, and the Shreveport Police for all having a role in screwing up Shreveport's film industry. They all rode on the coattails of the Hightower Administration and didn't know what to do when he left office. Why did the Glover administration snub their nose at the film experts who moved here and offered their advice free of charge to anyone who would listen?
Obviously, the Glover Administration has given Shreveport a bad name and has alienated Shreveport from Hollywood and the film industry.

An over-aggressive police force, an incompetent mayor, and a city council full of questionable (if not criminal)characters who will compromise anything for their political careers has killed our chances for a local film industry. I hope all voters remember this come election time.

I can't help but to wonder why the news media won't start asking questions as to who is responsible for the loss of the local film industry, after so much success under the Hightower administration. All local productions have vacated the area, and Mansfield Studios has now closed.

We now know it is not the economy, not pending SAG negotiations, not competing tax incentives, and not the industry itself that is responsible for the films leaving Shreveport. Everything is BOOMING in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and Alexandria...but Shreveport is avoided like the plaque. A good reporter should get hold of this story and make a career for himself. Hint, Hint!

Anonymous said...

I feel I must leave a comment with regard to the post from Anonymous. I have been in the film industry in Louisiana for over 13 years. I am one of those professionals who relocated a company here from Nola that I was working for in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Eventually, the company moved back to New Orleans but I remained in Shreveport to establish a new company, especially because of the support of the local govt and citizens of this town.
It should be noted that Arlena has remained consistently and overtly accessible to the film industry through both administrations and we have found former Mayor Hightower, Mayor Glover and all administration officials to be incredibly supportive and helpful. There are things that have happened in Shreveport that we would never have been able to accomplish in New Orleans or other major metropolitan areas.
In my opinion, the lag or slowdown in production in Shreveport and Louisiana is due to a number of factors (particularly those mentioned):
a) incentives in other states have beat Louisiana's. Georgia is at 30% for all of its creative industries. Atlanta has a major international airport and access is easy. Michigan is at 42% in most communities. Connecticut is 30%. Iowa can be up to 50%. Illinois, Massachusettes, New York, Wisconsin, etc...Almost every state in the country has an incentive program, so the competition has become much more fierce over the past few months.
b) the pending SAG strike; that has since been resolved.
c) the economy; it has affected a number of independent productions which were the bread and butter for Shreveport;
d) Shreveport is a great city with a variety of topography and locales, but it does have some issues with regard to size of its airport; so do Alexandria and Baton Rouge.
Additionally, New Orleans is not booming, nor are Alexandria, Baton Rouge, and Lafayette. The majority of projects shooting in the latter 2 cities have incredibly low budgets, and New Orleans is starting to recognize a typical summertime slowdown. As far as I know, there is nothing shooting currently in Alexandria, although they may be in negotiations on a project. New Orleans has had a nice run of business this year, but New Orleans had business prior to the incentives and always will, as it is a destination city.
We should be thanking this (and the former) administration for its continued and vested support of the film industry. Mayor Glover and Arlena Acree are some of the most proactive city officials in the State. Additionally, the Shreveport city council and Caddo Parish have passed a local incentive package.
Lastly, the reason Mansfield has closed was due to reasons that have nothing to do with the industry or the local adminstration.
As a citizen of this community, I urge you to support the industry at the State level and to urge your local representatives and governor to increase legislation to 30% and to maintain the addl Louisiana labor incentive, so as to remain competitive with states and cities that may have some advantages over ours. That is THE most critical concern for the film industry overall.
I have to say one more time that Arlena deserves kudos for all of the work she does for our industry. She works days, nights and weekends, often on her own time. She is to be commended for her energy, graciousness and commitment.

Anonymous said...

SHREVE IS NOT THE PREFERRED CITY IN LOUISIANA FOR THESE RUNAWAY PRODUCTIONS. There I said it, and feel better. Just ask anyone who has been here, BUT not from here.