Leaders in Louisiana are working to bring movie and tv filming back to Louisiana. The State Senate has approved a bill to extend film tax credits as a way to lure the industry back to the Bayou State. This vote comes at a time when this industry is dealing with a writer’s strike in Hollywood.

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The program offers $150 million in tax credit and it will now be extended through 2031. This is the longest extension state lawmakers have approved.

Senator Sharon Hewitt of Slidell says this effort will “reach well beyond New Orleans and Baton Rouge - $350 million a year in salaries and 10,000 jobs.”  She says this program will help bring these productions back to Louisiana. During the height of movie making in the state, there were as many as 15 different projects going on across the state at any one time.

Screenwriters in Hollywood have been on strike for more than a month and this has slowed down production work leaving hundreds of workers without jobs.

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The vote on the measure was 35-4 with 2 Shreveport Senators, Barrow Peacock and Greg Tarver voting against the tax credit measure.

Senator Barrow Peacock tells KEEL News he voted against this bill because “they do not benefit the state. There have been studies to see if they benefit the state financially and they do not.”

The bill will go to a conference committee on the House side to approve the Senate amendments and then it is on the way to Governor John Bel Edwards' desk for his signature.

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This measure could have an impact on the deal between Shreveport and Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson who is planning to lease Millennium Studios and the old Expo Hall for various TV and film projects.

The 43 Highest Grossing Movies Filmed In Shreveport

Our location information comes from IMDB. All of these movies are listed by IMDB to be filmed in Shreveport, even if it was just some scenes, reshoots, or the whole movie. We also got our Box Office Gross info from IMDB as well.

 

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