As its economy looks to recover after the devastation wrought by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Louisiana has a major boost to its filming infrastructure on the horizon. Plans have been announced to build a studio complex on 11-plus acres in Baton Rouge.
The facility, which will be called the Celtic Media Centre, is scheduled to have its first phase of construction–five sound stages, production offices and a post facility–completed during the third quarter of the year. The construction is taking place on a partial facility, which had been vacated by rapper Master P.
The site and partial facility have been acquired by The Celtic Group, a Baton Rouge-based financial services and real estate company. Partnered in the venture is Nova Features, a film development and production company with offices in Baton Rouge and Los Angeles.
Another key player in the Baton Rouge launch is Raleigh Studios, which is billed as being the largest independent studio in the country. Raleigh maintains some one million square feet of studio space in the U.S., much of it in Southern California with facilities in Los Angeles and Manhattan Beach, Calif. Raleigh will serve as a design consultant to the Celtic Media Centre. After it’s completed, the complex will be managed by Raleigh. And Raleigh’s lighting company, Hollywood Rentals, will supply lighting and other production resources to the Baton Rouge studio.
The Celtic Media Centre is among the first facilities of its kind to apply for the infrastructure tax credit that was passed by the state legislature last summer. The infrastructure tax credit for the film industry is an adjunct to the successful film production tax credit law that has significantly increased motion picture production in Louisiana.
Michael Moore, president of Raleigh Studios, said that he hopes to make it easier for commercial producer clients of the Celtic Media Centre to access the Louisiana production tax credit incentives, which have been largely used by feature filmmakers. In that Raleigh’s facilities host a mix of spot and longform activity, the company is attuned to the ad industry. Moore said that commercial producers can tap into incentives on the strength of their cumulative spotwork spanning production and post in Louisiana.
Brendan O’Connor, chairman/CEO of The Celtic Group, said of the pending Baton Rouge complex, “As other states pass tax credits for filmmakers, it will be absolutely critical that facilities such as this be available to motion picture producers. The more that can be done while in Louisiana will give our state a distinct competitive advantage.”