In an effort to grow the talent pipeline for Louisiana’s film production workforce, Louisiana Economic Development has awarded LSU’s film and television program a nearly $200,000 grant from the state’s Entertainment Development Fund.
According to a statement from LED, LSU will use the grant to expand faculty in its Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film and Television program. In doing so, the university aims to “advance the program into previously untapped arenas of digital and virtual filmmaking,” thereby helping to educate and train the next generation of film industry workers.
Patrick Mulhearn, an industry consultant who served as executive director of Celtic Studios from 2009 to 2017, tells Daily Report that there are three critical considerations studios must factor in when deciding where to produce their films: incentives, infrastructure and crew base.
Baton Rouge is well positioned when it comes to incentives and infrastructure, but the city needs to rebuild its crew base if it hopes to “get back on the map” as a premier filming destination, Mulhearn says. Funding in the vein of LED’s grant could go a long way toward achieving that end.
“Having a local crew base saves producers from having to import people,” Mulhearn says. “It’s extremely attractive to decision-makers in Hollywood.”
The three-year reimbursable grant is the second Entertainment Development Fund grant to be awarded to LSU. In 2021, LED awarded the university a five-year $1.25 million grant to establish a virtual production program. That program now impacts 15 courses and hundreds of students across various disciplines.
Through the Entertainment Development Fund, which was established in 2017, LED has invested over $9.1 million in education and workforce development programs at higher education and nonprofit institutions. Louisiana’s film industry generates nearly $1 billion in revenue each year and currently supports about 10,000 jobs.
It is worth noting that Cory Parker, who took the helm of the Celtic Group in January, has stated that attracting and growing a well-trained crew base is one of his main priorities in his new role.
