Louisiana, perennially a popular filming location, stays busy for the rest of the year as it hosts three major featured film shoots in the state: the indie film Black and White (starring Kevin Costner and Octavia Spencer), the Marvel-based Fox film The Fantastic Four, and Pirates of the Caribbean 5.
Recently, Louisiana revoked a bill that would have reduced the state's film production incentive program. The result works in its favor, allowing Louisiana to offer competitive transferrable tax credits to productions filmed in the state.
Louisiana offers a generous 30 percent transferrable tax credit for in-state expenditures spent during filming in the state. It also offers an additional five percent labor incentive if those productions hire local residents to work on the film.
Black and White
Principal photography for the indie film Black and White started in New Orleans a few weeks ago.
Written and directed by Mike Binder (The Upside of Anger), Black and White is about a widower, played by Kevin Costner, who faces a custody battle over his granddaughter with her maternal grandmother, portrayed by Octavia Spencer (Fruitvale Station). The cast also includes Oscar winners Jennifer Ehle, Andre Holland, Bill Burr, Mpho Koaho and young, newcomer Jillian Estell.
The Fantastic Four
Louisiana's generous film tax credit is one of the major reasons Fox decided to move The Fantastic Four production from Vancouver to Louisiana.The Fantastic Four will be the first Marvel/Fox film to shoot in the state. Most other superhero movies went to Canada for their film locations. The film plans to begin filming in Louisiana in September.
Slated to direct The Fantastic Four is director Josh Trank (Chronicle). For now, producers have yet to officially announce casting for the movie, but it's possible actor Michael B. Jordan (Fruitvale Station) will lead the cast in the role of Johnny Storm/Human Torch. Jordan previously portrayed a super-powered individual in Chronicle, and more recently the actor has received huge accolades for his heartfelt performance in the award-winning indie film Fruitvale Station.
Pirates of the Caribbean 5
The producers for Pirates of the Caribbean 5 cited that Louisiana's tax incentives play a main role in their decision to shoot the movie in the state, or at least parts of the film. Jerry Bruckheimer, one of the producers, admitted that Louisiana tax credits made the state a sure-winner for as a film location. "We're certainly going to be filming in Louisiana because of the tax breaks and I think there might be a sequence there," he said. "We're hiring production designers now and it's moving forward."
To direct the huge sequel, Joachim Roenning and Espen Sandberg - the helmers of the Oscar-nominated "Kon-Tiki" - joined the production's impressive team which also includes - of course - actor Johnny Depp returning as Captain Jack Sparrow.
The Pirates of the Caribbean 5 will no doubt bring a boon to the thriving film industry in Louisiana. The previous three Pirates films had an average budget of around $250 million which trickled down to generous spending in the areas they filmed in.
Television Series
In addition to the mentioned featured films, Louisiana also hosts other films and television series, such as the Twentieth Century Fox sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the comedy sequel Hot Tub Time Machine 2, and the independent thrillers Dermaphoria and American Heist.
Filming in Louisiana
For more information on filming in Louisiana, visit Louisiana Entertainment, a Reel-Scout client.
Browse Louisiana's film locations.
----------
PHOTO CREDIT: Banner image from "American Heist" via Google.