BusinessReport.com

When movie producers and location scouts checked out the Louisiana booth at the recent Locations trade show of the Association of Film Commissioners International in California, they encountered a high-energy team. More than two dozen film industry officials from all corners of the state greeted them, scanned their convention ID badges on site, then showed them to laptops set up around the oversized display area so they could see the different “looks” Louisiana has to offer for shooting films, TV shows and commercials.

It was the kind of professional, top-dollar sales job that left an impression on industry execs like Jennie Yamakie, the director of physical production for Mandate Pictures in Beverly Hills, Calif.

“It definitely makes a difference when all the regions of the state are working together,” says Yamakie, whose company filmed Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay in Shreveport last year. “Not only is it one-stop shopping, but it helps you learn so much more about the state than you otherwise would.”

In a state long known for its parochialism, the level of cooperation among various municipalities and regions working to promote the film industry is noteworthy if for no other reason than it is unique. It is also significant because it’s working. While film commission offices from around the state continue to work hard promoting their own areas, they’ve also begun collaborating more closely to promote the whole state—and turning heads in the process.

“What you’re seeing in the film industry is remarkably unlike what has generally been the case here,” Shreveport demographer and political analyst Elliott Stoneciper says. “I’m not seeing it anywhere else in the state.”

In the case of the film industry, the state’s Office of Entertainment Industry Development deserves much of the credit for bringing all the various players from around the state on board. The state office was the organizing force behind the cooperative endeavor that produced such positive results at the Locations trade show, which was held in late April in Santa Monica, Calif.

In previous years, the state had its own small booth at the expo, as did the major film production cities like New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Shreveport. This year, by contrast, 18 film commission offices and visitors bureaus from around the state teamed up to staff a booth that was four times the normal size.

It was tricked out, too, with a plasma television screen that continuously showed images of Louisiana locations. It also had a separate area with the laptops, where visitors could log in to see more detailed information about a particular locale.

Because so many different agencies were involved, the cost was manageable. Each participant only had to put up $1,000 for the booth; far less than the $4,000 they would have had to pay to secure their own small booth. The larger film offices also divided up the costs of some of the bells and whistles that made the setup particularly effective. The state rented the furniture; Lafayette, New Orleans and Shreveport chipped in to pay for the plasma TV; Baton Rouge paid for the electronic badge scanner.

“The scanner was really useful because it enabled us to get contact data on everyone who visited the booth,” says Amber Havens, who coordinated the state’s efforts at the trade show and has worked to bring the various film offices together. “At the end of the show, we got a spreadsheet of all of those contacts, and then we were able to immediately distribute it to everybody so they could follow up.”

Having so many film offices working together in the same booth—there were 25 total attendees from the state—meant more hands were on board to divide up staffing duties at the trade show. That gave everyone more free time to leave the trade show and meet with studio executives and movie producers.

“Going to L.A. is the most effective way to draw business to Louisiana,” says Jennifer Day, director of the New Orleans Film Commission Office. “So we maximized our time out there by doing a lot of one-on-one meetings with key players out there.”

It seems like a no-brainer, but it’s unusual for Louisiana, a state that has only lately come to embrace the concept of regionalism—and even then not entirely. The 10/12 Corridor initiative, which brings together the growing areas along Interstate 10 and 12 between Lake Charles and Slidell, is one example. The recent decision by the Baton Rouge legislative delegation to form a caucus is another. But the efforts in the film industry are something else altogether—especially because Shreveport’s gains in the aftermath of Katrina came at the expense of New Orleans. And still, there’s none of the characteristic bitterness one might expect.

“The film industry is geographically sensitive, which is what makes this so remarkable,” Stonecipher says.

It’s also important, more so than ever. Following Louisiana’s lead and success in attracting the film industry to Louisiana through tax incentives, most states now have similar tax credit programs—some considerably more generous than the 25% Louisiana offers.

“We knew it before but it was really apparent at the trade show this year, how many other states have jumped in,” Havens says. “More than ever before, we have to have this level of cooperation.”

Indeed, Havens believes the state needs to do still more to coordinate its message and communicate that Louisiana is not only a great place to shoot films because of its tax credit program, something virtually every state can now boast. It also has infrastructure and a trained work force.

“When you look to the booth next door and see they’re giving away 40% tax credits you have to be armed with a message that we have something more to offer,” she says. “We have a team of people who are from all over the state who are ready to help.”

Havens is already looking to next year, based on the positive feedback she’s heard from those who participated in Locations. She hopes to rent a larger booth and have an even better coordinated effort, with a more distinct theme that captures the message the state is trying to communicate.

“We’re all getting together with the same goal,” she says, “which is to bring in more production under the state and to make it more attractive to

filmmakers.”