Hollywood South was a busy time for New Orleans. Film trucks dotted city streets, film crews filled restaurants and venues, and many locals got jobs as extras or as part of the film crew on shoots. That seems like another lifetime ago these days, but there’s still hope on the horizon for a “comeback” of sorts.
Jason Waggenspack, President of Film Louisiana, spoke to WWL’s Tommy Tucker about what Louisiana’s fortunes might be in the film industry moving forward. He points to the independent film industry as a likely partner in the future.
“In the last couple of months, a lot of independent feature films have come to our state and asked how they could get set up. I think we’re going to see an influx of those sorts of projects here as studios try to figure out their new systems of generating revenue,” explained Waggenspack.
For those not clear on what an “independent film” actually is, Waggenspack defines those projects as any film that is independently financed outside of the backing of a major studio. That could encapsulate a wide scope of projects with budgets both large and small.
“We’ve been consulting with several projects … in the 20s of projects … that’s a lot of independent films that are looking to land here in the state,” Waggenspack told Tommy Tucker.
Waggenspack is still hopeful that larger productions will come back to Louisiana to take advantage of the same opportunities for bigger films.
However, he points out that many American cities that used to be dependable hubs for production have been losing ground to Europe and Canada.
Waggenspack adds that the indie films created here in Louisiana could lead to larger productions making their way back to the state in the future as well.