More reasons to film in Louisiana
If Film Tax Credits weren’t enough reason to film in Louisiana, I’ll give you a few more great money saving reasons.
- Locations - For most indie productions, finding a good location is both difficult and expensive. Louisiana, however, has one great benefit - no permits. That’s right no permits are required for public any public property. In fact, the only issues that will require any special permission are the following:
* Filming in cemeteries
* Explosions/Pyrotechnics
* Filming in the Historic French Quarter
* Parking/Street Closures
* Police Details and Film Guidelines
* Regional Transit Authority Use
* Sanitation
* Removal of Streetlights and/or fixtures
- Source: Louisiana Film and TelevisionSimilarly, private property usually owners are very receptive to using of their property for filming as long as their is an assurance that no damage will be incurred.
- Right to work Louisiana is what is called a right to work state. That means by law someone can’t be forced to join a union. In a round about way, this means the unions have much less power here, and alot of productions go non-union. While I’m never an advocate of all voluneteer crews (I think you should pay everyone at least close to union rates), the paperwork and rules that unions put you through is a big hassle I’d rather not deal with.
- Cost of Living The cost of living here is generally much lower that of New York and California. A typical two bedroom apartment might cost you $600/mo in Lafayette, LA - A progressive city with population about 200,000. So when you look at it like that…SAG scale of $759 is a pretty good wage.
- Insurance The only required insurance in Louisiana is workman’s comp. Workman’s comp is costly, but if you are willing to take the risk (I don’t recommend it), you aren’t required by law to have any general liability insurance.
To be compeletely fair, I do have to give one downside. If you are coming from New York or Cali filming with a Louisiana crew…you won’t be able to pronounce the name of anyone on your call sheet…especially your Director of Photeauxs.
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