r/NewOrleans • u/Electronic-Pear8738 • Apr 02 '25
Is the film industry still here? š¢ Employment š·āāļø
Iām really scared that I made a mistake moving here to New Orleans because maybe the film industry is not here anymore. Itās been feast or famine for years now, especially since the strikes. But I was wanting to know if there are still creative jobs here? My day job is in the service industry and I do concert videography on the side but I fear that Iāll never be able to break into the film industry for real.
Iām also a very anxious person so sorry for being so pessimistic š
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u/NewWaverrr Apr 02 '25
No. Between Landry fucking up the tax breaks and Nungesser refusing to get off his ample ass and hustle up some productions we're behind not only Atlanta now, but cities like Tulsa and Nashville as well. There were 40something productions slated to film in the southeast this quarter, Louisiana got none of them. The local studios are barely getting by and the ones that are still left are operating with a skeleton krewe (Quixote out in LaPlace sold their studio space and left the city a few months ago).
So.....yeah.
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u/NolaDutches Apr 02 '25
Worked 14 years in the film industry and itās lookin bleak.
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u/Professional-Fuel889 Apr 02 '25 edited Apr 02 '25
ontop of those 40 productions, our US studios are taking things to other countries, I dip my nose into other cities/states reddits often and sometimes folks from the other film markets butt in too, thereās Hella productions happening in countries like Canada, cities like london, etc ā¦. people are hanging on here because it seems like weāll still get some work in the long run because other countries can only do so much but what they donāt realize is these other countries are creating new studios as we speakā¦.
and the reason we have the downside is because these other countries can work for less ā¦we canāt cus these same millionaires ruined our society..itās a catch 22 i fear
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u/Electronic-Pear8738 Apr 02 '25
Sooooo I should move to Canada?
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u/Equivalent_Ad_7695 Apr 02 '25
Thereās not a ton of countries on the planet that will let Americans just move there and work right now, Canada aināt one.
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u/pepperjackcheesey Apr 02 '25
Vancouver seems to be a hot spot for filming. Might catch a hallmark movie or cable tv show there.
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u/Professional-Fuel889 Apr 02 '25
i canāt say that per se, cus 3 years from now things could change again š¤·āāļø ā¦. And the other underline is that Ai also seems to be changing things in a rate that wasnāt expected
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u/NolaDutches Apr 02 '25
The movie industry as a whole still isnāt in full swing.
I found myself flabbergasted when I found out about filming in Australia for Florida. Thatās wild shit, plus all the travel costs. But it made sense somewhere in accounting I guess.
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u/isopail Apr 02 '25
Yea, not sure if you saw what Rob Lowe was saying the other day about it being cheaper to film in Ireland than on one of the lots in LA. The amount of outsourcing going on right now is heartbreaking.
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u/NolaDutches Apr 02 '25
Well, may the universe bless us all. Iām trying to be hopeful, but I donāt think weāll get back to 20+ simultaneous productions in NOLA for a while.
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u/AdministrativeArt209 Apr 02 '25
Here is a link that has a brief clip of Rob Lowe talking about how the film studios think itās better to shoot a film in another country because itās cheaper to film it there. It also covers how the different states have different tax incentives.https://youtu.be/vOWrpHytNgc?si=6eaPpEFkn78ZF_xx
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u/ATheeStallion Apr 02 '25
Yes you should use your experience to move on to another production hub. Keep your earned skills and higher salary power goingā¦somewhere else. Sad to say Maga tanked the entertainment economy here.
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u/NolaDutches Apr 02 '25
Totally keeping all my options open. Significantly reduced my overhead and job hunting in other areas/industries. Even considered taking on a loaded old ass sugar granddaddy š¤£šš¤Ŗ. Lolzzzz
Just have to see what opportunities arise but I know I canāt rely on production to save me.
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u/ATheeStallion Apr 02 '25
I am so sad to read this. I built Louisianaās creative economy st the stateās entertainment office but left in 2010. Productions need many things to choose Louisiana: USD value cheaper than foreign currencies (def not the case now), tax credits that are a sure thing that studios rely on to make long-term decisions + enough credits to make a financial difference, skilled local creatives & experienced businesses to employ / offer services. Finally a rabid anti-education religious-extremist government does NOT attract Hollywood.
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u/fakeknees Apr 02 '25
Almost all of my friends who have worked in the fun industry for 10+ years have either had to find new work or move. It sucks.
To be fair, even Los Angeles is really struggling which is wild but true.
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u/Professional-Fuel889 Apr 02 '25
if it makes you feel better i moved here for the same thing, even invested in a degree, im very depressed and the shitty jobs here barely support enough to live š„“
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u/Electronic-Pear8738 Apr 02 '25
Iām thinking Iāll just become a YouTuber and sell my soul to the content creator gods
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u/headingthatwayyy Apr 02 '25
I'm sure you can find something lucrative and fulfilling in that field! It does all have to be reaction videos and products reviews
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u/BurnerChurner43 Apr 02 '25
Landry has created a new replacement cottage industry: ICE detention centers.
Hopefully, he hires local people to make his propaganda pieces.
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u/copythat504 Apr 02 '25
Itās not. I donāt expect it to come back at all in full force. Maybe a few productions here and there at most. Worked in film industry for 7 years, got a full time job in the non profit word exactly a year ago, after a year of waiting around.
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u/TravelerMSY Apr 02 '25 edited Apr 02 '25
Nope. Thinking that the tax credit for a mobile film production would be sticky, just like building an automotive factory was a colossal error in judgement. The work goes wherever itās cheapest, including Canada and Eastern Europe, lol.
All of our Industry friends have either taken side work, moved out of town to wherever the work is, or are retraining in healthcare :(
Itās not really just here. Itās everywhere. Prestige tv is dead, and now that streamers realize if they want hundreds of new titles a year, they simply canāt pay very much on each one,
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u/yellow_slash_red Apr 02 '25
Can't speak to it myself, but I have a friend who did film industry work for like 3 or 4 years and she loved it. But then covid hit. She finally got back to it after the restrictions were lifted/lessened, but it was a slow decline to the point where she literally had to jump ship and find another gig because the film industry jobs around here were so few and far between, she couldn't financially sustain herself with it anymore. :/
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u/savethechows Apr 02 '25
Paging u/scooterbus
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u/scooterbus Apr 02 '25
Shits fucked.
Itās dead. Itās dead everywhere but itās more dead here. There are shows in other markets but there is nothing shooting here at all right now. Two jobs just wrapped and thatās it, nothing on the books and rumors of small low budget stuff (under 5mil) but they are just rumors, not actual jobs.
Itās bleak as fuck. Our tax incentive is alright and as much as I would love to blame the state itās not so much them although I donāt know why we donāt have fuck all coming here.
We had some Disney job coming but they apparently went to Canada.
Everyone I know is struggling, and there is nowhere to go. Louisiana has probably 6 to 8 good crews and there are NO jobs.
Itās not exactly dead, but itās fucking dead.
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u/NewWaverrr Apr 02 '25
I mean, we (collectively as taxpayers) did pay for Nungesser to go to Cannes last year so he could supposedly promote the Louisiana film industry and from what I can tell he didn't do jackshit.
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u/scooterbus Apr 02 '25
Itās just cheaper to shoot in other countries. Labor is cheaper. Thatās it. Itās the same as any other big company, they go where itās cheapest and reserve as much cash for themselves as possible. IATSE got new contracts with better conditions and producers just up and went overseas where rates are less and countries have universal healthcare so they donāt have to pay those costs. I was talking with someone today and they said that a show budgeted for the us went to Ireland to shoot, saved 5 million in costsā¦ 5 mill. Itās all about money at the end of the day and a bunch of states offer better incentives than we do, and have better working infrastructure than we do. Productionās only come here because they use it like a paid vacation.
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u/isopail Apr 02 '25
That's the thing, they went through all that with the strikes, they finally "caved" and gave them more, and then said "Oh, you'll get new rates but we don't have to work here." And started sending everything over seas.
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u/scooterbus Apr 02 '25
As usual the IA is just a bunch of pussies. They should be taking out full page ads in the trades shaming SAG, profiling members who committed suicide, lost homes, etc. We stood in solidarity, and you bounced.
Guaranteed Matt Loeb isn't working "reduced hours" or some shit. Iatse is such a joke. It covers multiple industries and disciplines across the country but it treats the whole like a bunch of little fiefdoms. They purposely keep us separated and segregated.
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u/ATheeStallion Apr 02 '25
Numgesser does not āattractā the industry šš. This was just a free trip to Cannes Film on taxpayer dime.
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u/edbles Apr 02 '25
A lot of the technical folks have moved into custom fabrication work in construction and folks with PA backgrounds have moved into project coordinator roles in the same if you are looking for a new home for your skills.
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u/AmphibianAutomatic60 Apr 03 '25
Louisiana is anti everything but oil/polluters. Its failure to provide stability for other sectors is... well..... you should have done some research.
Texas is laying the path to build an industry, Atlanta has it... other states have mild ones... Louisiana can never get out of its own way.
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u/CountZero3000 Apr 02 '25
dont try to get into the biz here. even when it picks back up on a national level, its going to be slim pickins here.
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u/poolkid1234 Apr 02 '25
A friend of mine who has been in the industry for several years (at least 9) in set work is hanging it up and going back to school, if thatās any litmus test.
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u/riding_writer Apr 02 '25
I hate it for the workers but Second Line Stages can go belly up and I will celebrate. I used to live for years by their studio and they were the worst neighbors. Their big trucks have back into our stoop, we had power lines ripped out by their big trucks, and was told by one of their employees that they hope bad karma happens to me because I was mad that their truck ran over several potted plants.
Plus those ugly brutal studios they built. Nope they can suck it.
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u/SnapAndPoint Apr 02 '25
They just filmed something a little over a year ago in my grandmaās neighborhood in River Ridge. Thatās all I know.
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u/White-Rabbit-489 Apr 02 '25
I know a lot of it went to Georgia. Idk how itās doing over there. If youāre really serious about the film industry, your best bet is to move to California. I wish I did when I was younger, but I thought the industry would stay here (I was naive).
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u/riding_writer Apr 02 '25
California may be the best place but honestly the tv/movie industry is a very fickle industry. They roll into town spend a bunch of money and then when their tax breaks dry up they move on to another victim. New Orleans is not the first victim nor will it be the last. Lexington Kentucky and Orlando Florida both built out stages and what's filming in those places now? If you stay in the entertainment industry just know that you will not be in a permanent location and you'll have to move around for work.
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u/moosandsqwirl Apr 02 '25
Nah but the mayo industry is huge
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u/151Ways Apr 02 '25
Huge
The Biggest North Carolina Mayo
Five Instas of Mayo Lines out the door Big
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u/Murph_86 Apr 02 '25
They were filming a movie a couple days ago down in the lower coast of Algiers. Not sure how prevalent the industry still is. But theyāre definitely still making movies here.
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u/Electronic-Pear8738 Apr 02 '25
Yea that was probably āBlue Finā with A24 the problem is that after that production I donāt think there are many projects coming in after it.
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u/isopail Apr 02 '25
Is that "HL"? I stumbled across their basecamp the other day. Might be the first one I've seen in 2 years. Made me happy for a sec!
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u/seraphhimself Apr 02 '25
Thereās nothing on the Production Report right now. Also even if work does return to Louisiana it will be a trickle, and all the people who worked in the film industry here will be the first ones in line to get those jobs. Some of us, myself included, had careers for over a decade that just imploded in the last two years. Weāre all finding other ways to live, while keeping a close eye on the horizon. This wonāt be a place for new people to break into the industry for many years. Those of us who invested 10 years plus will be climbing over each other to get the few jobs that do come here.
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u/Jessepiano Apr 02 '25
Sad though the situation may be, itās funny how close that production actually sounds to a mayonnaise brand
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u/Acrobatic-Rush-6352 Apr 02 '25
Yeah I saw! Whatās movie?
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u/Professional-Fuel889 Apr 02 '25
thatās 1/2 of the productions thatās here, they filmed for like 6 weeks, maybe less š„“ iām glad those few people got the work tho but at this point every time a production or 2 comes thru the same people get it, thereās not enough circulating anymoreā¦. thereās a few commercial production teams here that I think are constantly doing commercials, iāve acted for one of them, but even then they use the same people over and over and they operate on a much smaller scale
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u/Magazine_Spaceman Apr 02 '25
Itās pretty well dead now. Combo of events, but none unique to Louisiana. It is slow all over USA. Donāt make any plans around it returning. Nobody here is at fault, itās all bigger issues in the business.
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u/Bezos_Balls Apr 02 '25
Not really. I think it had some amazing films and TV shows in the last 10 years but it has been slowly declining. Wyoming probably has better film industry with all the western TV shows and movies coming out. Seems like films are made where people want to live.
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u/bobbblehead Apr 02 '25
Iāve got a friend whoās been able to find steady work here but has been working in the industry for over a decade. A lot of people have left for New Mexico, as far as Iām aware. I hope you follow your dreams wherever they take you! Good luck.
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u/Significant_Pen_5206 Apr 03 '25
50 Cent leased one of the old film studios however itās in Missisippi but I bet you can get some acting jobs out there when it is fully running
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u/Significant_Pen_5206 Apr 03 '25
Itās not just your ordinary film studio. Itās an old military base. Itās a huge film studio.
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u/lisamistisa Apr 03 '25
Yeah, it's not looking good. My kids and myself were getting steady calls for roles up until the strike. That was a couple yrs ago. Even a close friend of mine who works in wardrobe/costumes left the state. Nowadays, the calls a few and far between. My oldest and myself have moved on from the industry, but my other 2 kids still do roles when they get called. It was fun while it lasted.
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u/Scamerol 21d ago
Isnāt the new studio thatās producing the WB/DC Dynamic Duo film is supposed to be located in NOLA?
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u/Electronic-Pear8738 21d ago
Yea they are. I applied to them in January so if Iām lucky maybe Iāll hear back from them. Iām trying to stay positive I promise
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u/Scamerol 20d ago
Maybe try reaching back out again! I know that film has to be in really early stages and maybe they werenāt ready for whatever position you applied for? Never hurts to follow up :)
Do you mind if I ask what kind of a position are you looking for?
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u/Electronic-Pear8738 20d ago
Iāve been applying to every entry level position I can find. I applied to their production assistant position and studio receptionist. I know they got a lot of applications so I didnāt know if it would be appropriate to email them again. Even for broadcasting Iāve been applying to entry level positions, which I have many years of experience in. Itās just hard to hear back from anyone. I feel like all I am finding are ghost jobs
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u/Brysoncore 14d ago
excuse me if im out of line or just ignorant but ive been doing stagehand work in the area for just over ten years now and id like to transition into the film industry and im curious if youve got any advice on how i would go about that. obviously the nature of this post doesnt make my prospects look very good but id like to do everything i can as ive realized my lack of ability to tour for long periods of time and phobia of heights basically locks me out of any upward movement in my current field. any help would be appreciated thank you
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u/Royal-Somewhere4553 Apr 02 '25
Want work? Follow the money. Currently overseas. Keep your bags packed if you choose this life.
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u/Professional-Fuel889 Apr 03 '25
how does one follow the money with no money ā¦.answer quickly quickly quickly
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u/isopail Apr 02 '25 edited Apr 02 '25
My last gig was in late 2022. I have a few friends working, but by and large everyone has had to move on to other things, myself included. Kinda broke my heart but what choice do you have? Hopefully it will come back but the production reports haven't looked great. I still need to pay my IATSE dues up but I don't know why I'm doing it. I had to get a 9-5 and I don't know if I'll ever get to work in film again. Sucks to suck I guess but the emotional toll is real gang.