NEW ORLEANS (WGNO)— Hollywood’s biggest night, the Oscars, was last night, but if you know someone in the local film business, chances are they’re not working.
The number of productions underway is very low and the problem is not just in Louisiana.
Line Producer Todd Lewis says the current lack of work is due mostly to an impending writer’s strike, “There’s a deadline in May now for the writers to come to an agreement with the studios and that is the predominant reason of the slowdown. Aside from that studios and networks and tech companies are tightening their belts.”
The city’s film office Film New Orleans lists one current production of a film and no television series currently in production.
Director Carroll Morton says the work slowdown affects thousands of local workers, “We have a trucking industry here that services only the film industry, we have catering companies that service the film industry, we have equipment companies that do the same thing, service the industry. So it’s a lot of people that work directly in the film industry in the city of New Orleans who are being impacted by the slowdown.”
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