Louisiana Seeing Busy Fall Filming Season

STACEY PLAISANCE

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — With hurricane season ending, film and TV production in south Louisiana is picking up, and New Orleans is on track to break last year's filming record.

David Simon, creator of "The Wire" and "Homicide: Life on the Street," started shooting the first season of his HBO series "Treme" in New Orleans this month, and actor Jason Statham had a downtown office building bustling with production of a scene for the action thriller, "The Mechanic."

They are among at least eight film and TV projects in the New Orleans area this fall — and more than a dozen statewide — providing an end-of-the-year boost after a sluggish summer, said Sherri McConnell, head of the state film office.

"Summer is usually a slow time for us," McConnell said, citing higher production costs during hurricane season, which runs June 1 to Nov. 30, as a factor. But this year film industry strikes, the economy and uncertainty over the future of Louisiana's entertainment tax credit program were also to blame, she said.

Before the state Legislature approved a 5 percent boost in incentives for movie and TV makers this spring, the 25 percent tax credit was set to drop to 20 percent in 2010 and 15 percent in 2012.