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Release Date: 01/21/2015

Baton Rouge named Best Small City for Filmmakers in 2015

Baton Rouge is the best small city to live and work as filmmaker in 2015, according to the latest edition of Moviemaker Magazine.

Baton Rouge topped Moviemaker’s rankings for the five best film-making cities that range in population from 100,000 to 400,000. New Orleans was named the second best city in the category, followed by Savannah, Pittsburgh and Orlando.

The article, posted today at www.moviemaker.com/archives/news/best-places-live-work-moviemaker-2015-top-five-small-cities/5/
noted that Baton Rouge hosted over $200 million in film and television production last year, including updated version of Marvel’s Fantastic Four, Pitch Perfect 2, The Final Girls, TV’s NCIS: New Orleans, and the independent feature film Zipper with Patrick Wilson and Richard Dreyfuss.

Moviemaker said one of the main factors behind Baton Rouge’s top ranking was Louisiana’s generous current tax incentive scheme, but also noted that the Baton Rouge Film Commission – which was created by Mayor-President Melvin L. “Kip” Holden to promote the local filmmaking industry – also played an important role.

“The Baton Rouge Film Commission often secures crew members and partners with the production to find local crews, keeping stipend spending down,” the Moviemaker article said. “City-owned properties do not charge location fees—for example, the now vacant Women’s Hospital, owned by the city, has been used for several productions which only had to pay for security and utilities.”

Another major factor was Baton Rouge’s Celtic Media Centre, the largest studio of its kind in the state, which features seven sound stages that range from 15,000 to 35,000 square feet.

The article also appears in the latest edition of the Moviemaker Magazine, which will be distributed at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, later this month.

Mayor Holden said that 2015 promises to be another great year for Baton Rouge’s film industry, with three film projects starting production this month. The Mayor said that he and the Baton Rouge Film Commission are currently working with Sony and the AMC television network to bring more long-term television program here for production.




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