La. film industry has taken a hit but will it come back?

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Louisiana saw one of its biggest bumps in film production around 2022 where there were close to 20 major productions on the ground per month throughout the state. As of today, that number has been cut by more than half.

“I don’t ever see us having 27 shows on the ground like we did after Covid which, everybody was at a freeze for so long,” said Executive Director for Celtic Studios Cory Parker.

Parker says two major industry strikes at the end of 2023 sent productions overseas leading to less work.

“They did pivot as the writers’ strike happened, they pivoted out of the country, and then with the Teamsters at the table it has slowed them returning back,” Parker added.

Studios are also merging and creating uncertainty within the business. Other factors like the economy and how the 2024 elections will shape out have also led to production companies taking their business abroad. Louisiana still has some of the more enticing film production incentives in the country, but in recent years, about 37 other states have followed our lead and have become more competitive.

A recently passed state law gave the state’s tax incentives an expiration date of 2031, allowing us to keep our edge on the competition. According to Parker, things should begin to turn around in the near future.

“We were the first with the program and then others have replicated it and had success. Ours is one of the strongest programs, it’s had the longest run, people rely on us, they know our crews are built around it and they love coming here,” Parker explained.

Parker says because contracts have started to be resolved between these production companies, he expects the industry to pick up and crews to head back here by the end of January.

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