While unionized actors still have to vote on the tentative deal reached between the studios and SAG/AFTRA, that should happen shortly with little doubt the new pact between the two will be approved by the rank and file.
Work can then resume on TV and movie projects in Hollywood South.
Then, it will be a matter of getting film crews hired and back to work.
Chris Stelly, Executive Director of Louisiana Entertainment, says, "I know a lot of our crew are anxious and ready to get back to work, so we're just taking all the steps that are necessary to be prepared. We are ready to welcome production back to the state of Louisiana."
Stelly says there's no firm timeline as to when filming in New Orleans and elsewhere in the state will return to the level it enjoyed up until the writers and actors strikes.
He says applications are already being accepted for crew members needed as production work steps up again in New Orleans and around the state.
Stelly says work for them didn't fall off completely, but it could take a while to determine the impact of the writers and actors strikes on the local film industry.
He says, "You know we've seen production not go away fully, a 100 percent, we've had production throughout the past year, but it certainly had an impact." We'll be able to measure it in a year or two."
Stelly expects that projects that were in different states of production when the writers and actors strikes began will be the first to ramp up again in the state.
