While Hollywood South is among the industries shut down in Louisiana as the coronavirus pandemic plays out, one of Louisiana's competitors for the business, Georgia, is ending its shutdown. Industry insiders don't expect productions here to suddenly flock to the Peachtree State.
Georgia's reopening doesn't include film production yet, but even when it does, Chris Stelly with the Louisiana Film Commission says he doesn't expect productions here to leave, even if Louisiana hasn't reopened.
"I don't have that concern because we've built up such a strong, solid, crew base. We've got a great infrastructure throughout the entire state," said Stelly.
Stelly also said production companies aren't going to take risks, either.
"I think everyone is going to proceed with caution. I think they're going to review how each area is rolling things back in," he said. "I think that the film companies and studios and motion picture production companies themselves are determining what path they'll take going forward."
Deadline.com reports that even Georgia-based productions say they aren't going to start shooting anything until they're convinced testing is rigorous enough to help them keep their casts and crews safe.