These steps are being taken to revive Louisiana moviemaking | Business News

As Louisiana’s once-promising movie industry continues to dry up, state and local officials are looking at a variety of steps to jumpstart activity, from giving the state economic development agency more discretion and flexibility over film tax credits to pushing for creation of a national film office.

The state is caught up in the dramatic downturn in film production that has seen filming for movies and TV series shift from the U.S. to countries such as Canada, Ireland and Bulgaria. Currently, there is no filming going on in Louisiana; in 2022 during any given month there were 14-16 major productions being shot across the state.

“All of these other countries offer film incentives to compete with us,” said Patrick Mulhearn, a former official with Louisiana Economic Development who spent eight years as executive director of Celtic Studios in Baton Rouge. “The dollar is strong and people realize they could get more bang for their buck in Canada.”

U.S. film and television production has been hampered in recent years, with setbacks from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hollywood guild strikes of 2023 and the recent wildfires in the Los Angeles area. Overall production in the U.S. was down 26% last year compared to 2021, according to data from ProdPro, which tracks production. 

The decline was even more dramatic in Louisiana, which saw a 65% decrease in production during the three-year period, according to Jason Waggenspack, CEO of The Ranch Studios and president of Film Louisiana, the state’s movie and TV trade association. 

At the same time, filming in Australia and New Zealand increased by 14%, Canada was up 2.8% and the United Kingdom saw a nearly 1% increase.

ProdPro’s annual survey of executives, which asked about preferred filming locations, found no location in the U.S. made the top five, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Toronto, the U.K., Vancouver, Central Europe and Australia came out on top, with California placing sixth, Georgia seventh, New Jersey eighth and New York ninth.

To compete for the shrinking pool of movie productions, several states are substantially boosting their film and TV tax credit programs. Georgia has given out $1.3 billion in credits and Texas plans to spend up to $2.5 billion over the next decade, Mulhearn said. 

Louisiana, which had one of the country’s first and most competitive movie tax credit programs in the early 2000s, reined the incentives in a decade ago, and state lawmakers have adjusted the credits several times since.

How best to award tax credits? 

Now, a bill by Sen. Adam Bass, R-Bossier City, and backed by Louisiana Economic Development, would change the tax credit program, giving LED more authority over how the $125 million in annual credits would be given out.

Currently, any changes to the program have to be made by statute, meaning with legislative approval. The bill would empower LED to make the changes instead.

“The program has been amended 30 times in 20 years and it doesn’t make sense to go to the legislature every time you want to make a responsive change,” said LED Secretary Susan Bourgeois. “This allows us to be more flexible and responsible.”

The bill would simplify the process for awarding tax credits, allowing productions to get a flat 40% credit. Currently, a production can get a 25% tax credit, but various kickers —  having a number of Louisiana residents on the crew, using a Louisiana-based visual effects company and shooting outside of New Orleans — can boost the credits to 40%.

LED will look at a number of factors when deciding to award credits, such as the estimated economic impact of a production, if a project is shooting outside of New Orleans and if the production is in “the best interests of the state.” 

“This gets rid of all the different kickers,” Mulhearn said. “There’s a higher bar to qualify, but if you meet that, you go to the front of the line.”

The bill also removes caps for actors and directors that held tax credits to $20 million for a movie or $25 million for a series. This gives LED flexibility to take steps to attract a big budget movie or a TV series with major stars such as “NCIS New Orleans” if the agency feels like it would be in the best interest of the state, Mulhearn said.

So far, the industry has come out in support of the bill, Bourgeois said, and testified with her in favor of it in legislative committee. 

Mulhearn said the measure is a strategic way to better use the pool of tax credits and encourage companies to make a long term commitment to Louisiana.

“This bill has the potential to get people working again,” he said. 

Global competition

Baton Rouge has a long history with independent movies. Steven Soderbergh filmed “Sex, Lies, and Videotape” around the city. It went on to earn the top directing honor at the Cannes Film Festival in 1989 and launched Soderbergh’s career as one of America’s most sought-after directors. 

Another movement with local roots is Film USA, which was co-launched by Katie Pryor, executive director of Film Baton Rouge. Pryor said she got the idea after going to Cannes in 2021 and seeing the scores of countries promoting their movie and TV industries through national film offices. The U.S. lacks a national film office, leaving the promotion of the movie and TV industry to individual cities and states.

That’s a mistake because the competition for productions has gone global. It’s not a case of filmmakers deciding if they want to shoot in Baton Rouge or New Orleans, or Louisiana or Georgia, Pryor said.

“We’re losing projects because they’re deciding to shoot in Bulgaria,” she said.

Louisiana is well-equipped to compete in the global moviemaking marketplace, Pryor said. The state knows how to play the incentives game, it has an infrastructure of studios and a culture that is recognized around the world.

“People know California, Texas, Louisiana and Florida,” she said. “We have a global reputation.”

More than 90 film commissioners have signed up to be a part of Film USA. The goal is to set up a federal film office that would be a part of the U.S. Commerce Department, promoting shooting in the U.S. and ensuring productions remain globally competitive. The office would coordinate a national strategy on the movie and TV industry, promote filming in America on the global stage and develop the workforce for U.S. productions. 

“The U.S. is a victim of our own success,” Pryor said. “We had a hold on the industry and we were playing in our own little sandbox. But there was an entire playground being built around us.”

Pryor said she’s talked to U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy’s staff and they’re supportive of establishing a national film commission. President Donald Trump’s recent call to put tariffs on foreign movies to bolster the U.S. movie industry has also raised the profile of her organization.

“The timeline on government mobility has changed in this administration,” she said. “This is a conversation that’s moving along a little quicker.”

Staff Writer Stephanie Riegel contributed to this report.