Film industry makes a cautious comeback in Louisiana, but new strikes may be on the horizon

When the Screen Actors Guild strike ended last November, it was time for Hollywood South to get back to work. With both SAG and the Writers Guild striking back-to-back, months of shooting time went by the wayside, and many projects were waylaid.

But 2024 has seen a comeback with eight projects at different stages of production in the state.

Rob Reiner’s “Goodbye Cleveland,” a sequel to “Spinal Tap” with local actor Harry Shearer, wrapped two weeks ago, and season two of AMC’s “Mayfair Witches” is wrapping this week. TV series “Roller Jam,” a Magnolia Network production with Chip and Joanna Gaines at the helm, wrapped weeks ago and is slated to appear on Max, HBO’s streaming channel.

Last weekend, Josh Fox’s documentary “The Welcome Table,” about people escaping areas of the world no longer fit to inhabit thanks to climate change, shot its final scene along the levee in Holy Cross.

“Leverage: Redemption” moving to Amazon’s Prime Video, has been shooting Season 3 in New Orleans and will be rolling until the end of May. BET+ has been shooting a new series, “The Family Business: New Orleans” which involves a storyline about an American crime family in the Crescent City.

Shooting just began on the big-budget production from Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler, titled “Grilled Cheese.” These are the producers behind such hits as “Black Panther,” “Creed” and “Wakanda Forever.” This one is a period piece.

And, beginning mid-May, the much-anticipated film “The Corps,” based on Greg Cope White’s memoir about his life as a gay Marine, will begin production for Netflix.

Storm clouds on horizon?

It was the comeback that studio heads in town had hoped for, along with all of those aligned with the film industry. However, looming large on the horizon may be more union strikes afoot.

The first one involves the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, whose workers are the main source of skilled labor on motion picture and television sets. If IATSE were to strike, it would cause a major disruption to the industry.

“We’re actually optimistically confident and hopeful that they will not strike,” said Jason Waggenspack, CEO of The Ranch Studios and president of the Louisiana Film Entertainment Association.

“They’ve actually done a really great job of getting into negotiations very early with the producers and they’ve had several of the smaller portions of the union get their contracts resolved,” he said.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters may be another matter. They don’t go to the bargaining table until June, but unlike IATSE, they are not telegraphing optimism. Uncertainty is enough to drive Hollywood studios to be non-committal about upcoming productions and any shooting schedules, because no one wants to begin a production only to have it interrupted with a strike.

Not a peep

“We haven’t heard a peep from them as to whether they’re feeling good or feeling bad about the potential for a strike,” Waggenspack said. “In the absence of news, the only thing we can do is take precautions and prepare for the potential of being slow here for the next two or three months.

“Then, we must seriously contemplate what August will look like for production. You’re seeing the major Hollywood studios take a lot of things to Canada and Europe, knowing that they can start a longer project without having to worry about the potential of a strike in July.”

On the bright side, small independent, non-union productions have a real opportunity if there is indeed a lull in summer production, according to Waggenspack — and he welcomes the opportunity for those filmmakers.

As he reads the tea leaves, he envisions lower-budget films, some of which he knows are in the works, filling a void. At the end of day, viewers are interested in seeing beautiful stories told, whether they have big or small budgets.

The state’s tax credits are secured until 2023, and with Louisiana having such a diverse landscape it remains top-of-mind to filmmakers in Hollywood, who are already looking ahead to fall productions.

Working with new administration

“We have a new governor in place and we’re happy to say we’re looking forward to working with him … we have a lot of leadership in the legislative body that is very pro-film and understands the benefits and impact that we provide,” Waggenspack said.

“As the four main New Orleans’ studio owner-operators along with post-production folks and labor, we all went out to Hollywood in December, just to promote Louisiana. It wasn’t about us as individuals. It was about how we can be better and more impactful to our state,” he said.

“When I’m full, I’m helping other studios out, when other studios are full, they’re trying to help me out. We’ve been seeing a lot more episodic series these days, versus massive tentpole feature films. We’ve incentivized these sorts of series by giving filmmakers a five year guarantee on tax credits.”

Meanwhile, the AMC network is developing a third Immortal Universe series, focused on the Talamasca, a secret society featured in Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles and Mayfair Witches series.

If it’s Anne Rice, it’s shooting in New Orleans. For Louisiana, the beat goes on.

Leslie Cardé can be reached at lesliecardejournalist@gmail.com.