Tag: Hollywood South

Louisiana Studios Are Building the Future of Virtual Production

For years, Louisiana earned the nickname “Hollywood South” thanks to its generous film tax incentives, experienced production crews, and diverse filming locations that ranged from moss-covered bayous to bustling city streets. Major television shows and blockbuster films transformed the state into one of America’s busiest production hubs, as per this article from Nola.com. While the pace of filming has slowed in recent years, a new generation of technology is helping position Louisiana for the next chapter of digital filmmaking, virtual production.

Known as virtual production or extended reality (XR) production, the technology rose to prominence with Disney+’s groundbreaking series The Mandalorian. Rather than relying heavily on traditional green screens, producers filmed actors inside massive LED walls capable of displaying realistic digital environments in real time. Instead of adding backgrounds months later during post-production, performers could interact with immersive virtual landscapes while cameras captured nearly finished scenes on set.

Louisiana has embraced that shift. Several organizations across the state have invested in LED video walls, camera-tracking systems, and real-time rendering software designed to attract filmmakers seeking flexible and efficient production environments. Together, these facilities are helping modernize Louisiana’s entertainment industry while expanding opportunities beyond traditional location filming.

One of the state’s pioneers is LSU’s XR Studio in Baton Rouge. Established in 2021 with support from a $1.25 million state grant, the facility serves both as a teaching laboratory for students and a professional production studio for outside clients. Since opening, the studio has supported hundreds of projects, including music videos, interviews, sports marketing campaigns, and commercial productions for organizations such as NBC News and Fender.

In New Orleans, startup LucyXR has developed a virtual production facility inside the headquarters of WYES-TV. The company has invested heavily in modular LED technology capable of creating large-scale immersive environments for feature films, music videos, commercials, and branded content. Among its recent projects are music videos for Jon Batiste, television commercials featuring New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough, and the independent feature film Exalted, a psychological thriller scheduled for release in 2027.

Rather than constructing elaborate physical sets, production crews combine carefully arranged props with photorealistic digital environments displayed across the towering LED wall. Entire restaurant interiors, city streets, and landscapes can be created digitally, allowing filmmakers to complete multiple scenes far more efficiently than traditional production methods.

Another newcomer, FoxDog Studios, is bringing similar capabilities to Baton Rouge. The year-old company recently completed installation of its own XR production system inside a renovated 10,000-square-foot facility near the Mall of Louisiana. Designed primarily for small- and medium-sized productions, the studio focuses on commercials, branded content, marketing campaigns, and digital media.

The growing investment comes at an important time for the state’s entertainment industry. After experiencing a surge of production activity following the pandemic, film and television projects have slowed nationwide as studios reduce content spending and international competition intensifies. Although Louisiana’s long-running film production tax credit programcontinues to attract projects, states such as Georgia now compete alongside countries including Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom for major productions.

Industry leaders believe investments in virtual production infrastructure can help Louisiana remain competitive despite those changing market conditions. Modern studios equipped with XR technology complement the state’s experienced crews, established production vendors, and iconic filming locations, creating a more complete package for producers considering where to shoot.

Louisiana may always be known for its bayous, live oaks, and historic architecture, but the future of filmmaking in the state may rely just as much on digital worlds created inside LED walls. As virtual production becomes increasingly common across television, film, advertising, and online media, Louisiana is positioning itself to remain a destination where creative storytelling and technological innovation meet.

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Louisiana Film Crews Starting to Return to Work

As safety measures begin to loosen across the state, many Louisiana cities are seeing a resurgent increase in film production, according to an article from The Advocate that details just how local film crews are getting back to work.

The article featured a spotlight on local film director Richie Adams as he was framing the streets of downtown Baton Rouge to look like New York City for his upcoming feature The Road Dance, which is set to be shown in festivals later this year. The film is an adaptation of the John MacKay novel of the same name, and it chronicles a young woman’s overcoming of adversity in a pre-World War I landscape.

Just as The Road Dance was using shots of the brick buildings of France Street for an afternoon, many film production crews began April by finding their footing once again as camera operators, boom microphone holders, lighting technicians, and others are picking up the phones to return to Louisiana’s film productions that were halted as a result of 2020’s stay at home ordinances. If Louisiana production crews weren’t returning to paused projects, then they were accepting contracts for new productions as a result of the Film market’s increased demand to produce and release content for various streaming platforms and reopening theatres.

Todd Lewis is a producer for Crimson Pictures, a New Orleans-based production company that has been a part of many film and television productions filmed in the south like Looking for Alaska (2019), Fantastic Four (2015), and 21 Jump Street (2012). When interviewed, he remarked that as of recently most film crews across the state are booked throughout the fall saying, “we kind of stayed down most of the summer like everyone else, then we got geared up again in September. It’s been a boom ever since. It’s a great thing that we’re having a hard time finding local crew. It means that everybody is working.”

Business is definitely beginning to pick up again, as there were at least a half-dozen film productions actively filming in the state of Louisiana in March and another six slated to begin filming sometime before the end of May. These twelve or so film productions spaced out over a three-month period are approximately the same number of projects that found themselves in various stages of completion when the stay-at-home order was declared on Friday, March 13, 2020.

According to Director Richie Adams, local film production crews are still about “a year out from” being back to some semblance of normal or at least pre-March 2020 levels of efficiency, productivity, and financial competency. As per Adams’ perspective, when it comes to actively filming in the wake of the pandemic, the question becomes: “can your production handle the extra burden of COVID safety and protocols because it’s a financial burden to the production?”

In 2020, there were 44 filed applications by film and digital media companies that estimated that they would spend $542 million in the state, which is nearly 31% lower than the 75 applications estimating an expenditure of $783 million in 2019.

Chris Stelly, the executive director for Entertainment and Digital Media at Louisiana Economic Development (LED) said of the gradual resurgence of the state’s film industry, “what we’re noticing is traditional supply and demand economics. The supply has been exhausted, while demand continues to remain at an all-time high. You’ve got all these streaming options that just need content.”

As local pandemic measures continue to cautiously scale back, and many are returning to work in Louisiana’s film production industry, some signs give a glimmer of hope to “return to normal.” As of April 2021, seven companies are estimated to spend $61.7 million across the state this year on various productions, and while it may not match the pre-pandemic costs, it’s definitely a refreshing step in the right direction.

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