B.R. studio head says NASA undercuts his business

Published Aug 10, 2012 at 10:00 am (Updated Aug 10, 2012)

Since they're not building booster rockets there at the moment, NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans has opened its doors to film producers, says Patrick Mulhearn, director of studio operations at Raleigh Studios Baton Rouge. He says the cavernous facility is the only place in the state that can compete with the 150,000 square feet of stage space at Raleigh, which is housed at the Celtic Media Centre. "Some large projects have based out of there," Mulhearn says. "It is tough for us to compete with them. The unlimited resources of the federal government make their operating costs very low. I've been told they've been able to undercut us and other stages in Louisiana that are private sector and purpose-built [for film]." He mentions Invertigo, a big-budget sci-fi flick that he says could have been a perfect fit for Raleigh but is filming at Michoud instead. Big Easy Studios rents out space at Michoud, he says. Big Easy Studios and NASA did not respond to calls seeking comment. —David Jacobs