The latest batch of big-budget films set to be shot in Louisiana over the summer speaks to the state's success with its tax credit program.
Among planned shoots are "Fantastic Four," ''Terminator 5," ''Pitch Perfect 2" and "Jurassic World," the fourth film in the "Jurassic Park" series. The television series "NCIS: New Orleans" and "American Horror Story: Freak Show" are also being shot this summer.
The flurry of activity is encouraging entrepreneurs who provide services for production companies, in turn creating jobs. Louisiana ranked ahead of California — and anywhere else — in the number of live-action movie shoots in a study of 2013 releases from Hollywood's largest studios.
Louisiana offers tax credits of up to 40 percent of the money spent to buy, build and use movie production facilities.
Since the tax credit program began in 2002, services that have grown in the state include studios, sound stages, special effects, casting, costume rental, post-production and editing.
Louisiana's progress was demonstrated in a recent report by the permitting agency Film L.A. that examined the locations for shoots by the six major movie studios and five of the biggest independent studios. The agency said that 18 of the studios' 108 motion pictures released last year were shot in Louisiana, including "G.I. Joe: Retaliation," ''Dallas Buyers Club" and "Grudge Match."
California and Canada had 15 projects each, followed by Britain with 12 and the state of Georgia with nine.
"Now we represent about 14,000 jobs, up from roughly zero 10 years ago, and that's a pretty important thing for us to do," said Will French, president of the Louisiana Film and Entertainment Association.
French said TV production is also thriving in Louisiana. Among the newest is a pilot now filming in Shreveport called "Salem," based on the colonial-era witch trials.
Showing posts with label industry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label industry. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Thursday, May 15, 2014
What's Behind the Current Resurgence of Faith Based Entertainment?
TheWrap.com has an article on the current resurgence of faith-based programming. It notes that 90 million Americans identify themselves as evangelical Christians — “the country's largest special interest group,” as many in the Christian film industry like to say — have been traditionally underserved; there is only limited appetite for films that are marked by subpar production and story, no matter the message. As a result, the gap in the market remained in place for years, with Christian audiences flocking instead to talk radio and special television networks.
That's where the rush of technology and financing come into play.
Russell Wolfe started Pure Flix in 2005 as both a production and distribution company, putting in place a plan to gradually invest more money into his movies as their quality and fiscal return improved. The P&A costs of theatrical releases was largely prohibitive, so they stuck to DVD and streaming services, but their prolific output quickly made them a profitable industry leader.
“Our market, the family market, we feel that there's few and far between good family movies that are appropriate for all ages, so we want to service that market,” he told TheWrap, “but at the same time, we'll stick to our roots on other films that are faith affirming.”
Not every movie is a huge seller, but the sheer volume available on their site, as well as places like ChristianMovies.com and even at Wal-Mart, make for a tidy profit. And while they may not please mainstream critics — the works of Candace Cameron Bure and Haylie Duff are unlikely to land in the Criterion Collection, though there may be some cult potential around the Danny Trejo film “The Bill Collector” — they hit the right notes with the right people.
The ability to service that market was helped greatly by the rise of digital technology that has made filmmaking accessible and a much more populist endeavor. Production costs went down, so they could spend more on recognizable actors like Teri Polo, as well as bigger names like Greg Kinnear, who starred in “Heaven is for Real,” which cost Sony's Affirm Pictures just $12 million overall and has made $75 million since its release in April.
The other huge religious hit of the spring, “God's Not Dead,” was made for even less — just $2 million — and green lit after extensive research and surveys by Wolfe and his team.
“We surveyed them and asked what does the church need, what kind of message do they need to hear?” Wolfe explained. “We heard several things back, they said marriage and family and money issues and things like that. But one of the things that came back was just to reaffirm with people why they believe what they believe. So much in the media is, when they look at Christians, they go, ‘You're out there, that's just blind faith.’ And it's not blind faith, there's reasons behind it. I think one of the things that made this movie so successful is that it ended up reaffirming with individuals why they believe what they believe, almost vindicating them in their belief in the face of mainstream criticism.”
There is now an overt feeling in the evangelical community that they are being discriminated for being religious — several court battles over government prayer have rallied them to the cause — and “God's Not Dead” played into that sentiment, as well.
read full article
That's where the rush of technology and financing come into play.
Russell Wolfe started Pure Flix in 2005 as both a production and distribution company, putting in place a plan to gradually invest more money into his movies as their quality and fiscal return improved. The P&A costs of theatrical releases was largely prohibitive, so they stuck to DVD and streaming services, but their prolific output quickly made them a profitable industry leader.
“Our market, the family market, we feel that there's few and far between good family movies that are appropriate for all ages, so we want to service that market,” he told TheWrap, “but at the same time, we'll stick to our roots on other films that are faith affirming.”
Not every movie is a huge seller, but the sheer volume available on their site, as well as places like ChristianMovies.com and even at Wal-Mart, make for a tidy profit. And while they may not please mainstream critics — the works of Candace Cameron Bure and Haylie Duff are unlikely to land in the Criterion Collection, though there may be some cult potential around the Danny Trejo film “The Bill Collector” — they hit the right notes with the right people.
The ability to service that market was helped greatly by the rise of digital technology that has made filmmaking accessible and a much more populist endeavor. Production costs went down, so they could spend more on recognizable actors like Teri Polo, as well as bigger names like Greg Kinnear, who starred in “Heaven is for Real,” which cost Sony's Affirm Pictures just $12 million overall and has made $75 million since its release in April.
The other huge religious hit of the spring, “God's Not Dead,” was made for even less — just $2 million — and green lit after extensive research and surveys by Wolfe and his team.
“We surveyed them and asked what does the church need, what kind of message do they need to hear?” Wolfe explained. “We heard several things back, they said marriage and family and money issues and things like that. But one of the things that came back was just to reaffirm with people why they believe what they believe. So much in the media is, when they look at Christians, they go, ‘You're out there, that's just blind faith.’ And it's not blind faith, there's reasons behind it. I think one of the things that made this movie so successful is that it ended up reaffirming with individuals why they believe what they believe, almost vindicating them in their belief in the face of mainstream criticism.”
There is now an overt feeling in the evangelical community that they are being discriminated for being religious — several court battles over government prayer have rallied them to the cause — and “God's Not Dead” played into that sentiment, as well.
read full article
Monday, May 12, 2014
Sean Astin Notes Christians Are Innovating Movie Marketing
Sean Astin stars in the just released Moms Night Out and laughs at the fact that he might now be labeled as a Christian filmmaker despite having been in many more mainstream movies.
“What's funny is the idea that I might become a paragon of Christian filmmaking because I've done two Christian films,” he said. “I'm just not going to not make films because Christians are making them if they’re good films.”
“Hollywood is antagonistic to Christian films because of forces that are hard to describe, but Christians have made things difficult for themselves by the way they approach the outside community,” he continued.
Astin said people need to forget about those “who grab the microphones and yell the loudest.” The fact is, people are hungry for family-friendly, faith-based entertainment and studios are finally starting to listen.
“The Christian ground game is presently revolutionizing marketing in filmmaking,” he explained. “It's not a subtle thing, and it's a great thing and it's not owned by the Christians. They are just getting there first because they’re tired of not being able to get their product into a wide marketplace.”
No matter your faith, Astin hopes his new movie will allow the audience to stop, breathe and reflect for a minute.
“What's funny is the idea that I might become a paragon of Christian filmmaking because I've done two Christian films,” he said. “I'm just not going to not make films because Christians are making them if they’re good films.”
“Hollywood is antagonistic to Christian films because of forces that are hard to describe, but Christians have made things difficult for themselves by the way they approach the outside community,” he continued.
Astin said people need to forget about those “who grab the microphones and yell the loudest.” The fact is, people are hungry for family-friendly, faith-based entertainment and studios are finally starting to listen.
“The Christian ground game is presently revolutionizing marketing in filmmaking,” he explained. “It's not a subtle thing, and it's a great thing and it's not owned by the Christians. They are just getting there first because they’re tired of not being able to get their product into a wide marketplace.”
No matter your faith, Astin hopes his new movie will allow the audience to stop, breathe and reflect for a minute.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Social Media Fueled Success of God's Not Dead
TheWrap.com showcases social media's role in fueling the success of God's Not Dead.
The indie that upended the Hollywood establishment to become last weekend's fourth highest grossing film on fewer than 800 theaters deployed one of the most sophisticated social media campaigns this year. It was a grassroots effort that helped the studio target and turn out sold-out crowds.
Credit for its success belongs to Ash Greyson, CEO of social media consultant Ribbow Media, which turned a similar trick with last year's conservative documentary “2016: Obama's America.”
“Social media was critical with this,” Russell Wolfe, CEO of Pure Flix Entertainment, the company behind the $5 million film. “Ash is creative, he's innovative, he came up with fantastic ideas and he was able to give a lot of value for the money.”
Greyson got results by drilling down into data, excavating not only Christians, but likely Christian moviegoers and then peppering them with promotional materials for the film. Greyson's team went deeper, teaming with companies such as Pandora to identify people who listened to Christian music and particularly to the Newsboys, a Christian pop group featured in the film.
“The problem historically has been that people think because someone is a Christian, they're more likely to go to a Christian movie,” Greyson said. “They may be more likely to go to a Christian movie than a horror movie, but they still may never go to the movies.”
When it came to choosing his online advertisements, Greyson told various platforms that he wanted their most disruptive products. Instead of banner ads, he asked for spots that started playing instantly or that stopped and restarted if a person took a break from using a service at mid-point.
It also meant shunning television nearly entirely save for a few spots on the popular Christian broadcast “The 700 Club” and on UP. Greyson believes that television spots are too broad, offering limited bang for the buck.
“We're not buying a demographic, we're buying a committed audience,” he said. “It's all about peeling the onion.”
read full article
The indie that upended the Hollywood establishment to become last weekend's fourth highest grossing film on fewer than 800 theaters deployed one of the most sophisticated social media campaigns this year. It was a grassroots effort that helped the studio target and turn out sold-out crowds.
Credit for its success belongs to Ash Greyson, CEO of social media consultant Ribbow Media, which turned a similar trick with last year's conservative documentary “2016: Obama's America.”
“Social media was critical with this,” Russell Wolfe, CEO of Pure Flix Entertainment, the company behind the $5 million film. “Ash is creative, he's innovative, he came up with fantastic ideas and he was able to give a lot of value for the money.”
Greyson got results by drilling down into data, excavating not only Christians, but likely Christian moviegoers and then peppering them with promotional materials for the film. Greyson's team went deeper, teaming with companies such as Pandora to identify people who listened to Christian music and particularly to the Newsboys, a Christian pop group featured in the film.
“The problem historically has been that people think because someone is a Christian, they're more likely to go to a Christian movie,” Greyson said. “They may be more likely to go to a Christian movie than a horror movie, but they still may never go to the movies.”
When it came to choosing his online advertisements, Greyson told various platforms that he wanted their most disruptive products. Instead of banner ads, he asked for spots that started playing instantly or that stopped and restarted if a person took a break from using a service at mid-point.
It also meant shunning television nearly entirely save for a few spots on the popular Christian broadcast “The 700 Club” and on UP. Greyson believes that television spots are too broad, offering limited bang for the buck.
“We're not buying a demographic, we're buying a committed audience,” he said. “It's all about peeling the onion.”
read full article
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Charley Humbard Chats with American Dream on The Impact of Faith on Media
Charley Humbard, founder and CEO of UP, shares with American Dream his journey that led him to establish UP, initially the Gospel Music Channel. American Dream is broadcast around the world on the American Forces Network. AFN is the largest radio network in the world, reaching American military and their families in 177 countries and on every US ship at sea.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Top Hollywood Exec Says Christians Must Produce True-to-Life Stories to Engage Entertainment Industry
A top Hollywood studio executive has called on Christians to focus on producing real, well-written, true-to-life stories to really capture the attention of the entertainment industry.
"I absolutely believe that a lot of times, when it comes to faith-based content, we portray sometimes the ideal of what we believe," DeVon Franklin, senior vice president of Production for Columbia Tristar Pictures, said during a panel on Christian engagement with the media, at the NRB International Christian Media Convention on Monday.
"We all have gone through tragedy, we all have gone through trauma, some of us are in pain right now – because life is not where we want it to be. Some of us are depressed, some of us are angry, some of us are frustrated, some of us have lost some loved ones, we all have gone through massive things that have happened to us."
Franklin, who oversaw notable films like "Sparkle," starring Whitney Houston in her last on-screen role, as well as "The Karate Kid" remake, and "The Pursuit of Happyness," and who is now helping with the upcoming film "Heaven is for Real," said Christians need to get beyond the points that divide them.
"If we aren't united, we will continue to see little blips on the radar, but fail to make a significant impact," he stressed.
Although Christians are making strides this year with a lot of content coming out in theaters, including "Son of God" this week, "Noah" in March and "Heaven is for Real" in April, there is still a lot of work to be done to really engage the entertainment industry, he said.
"It's not good enough to say 'I'm a Christian writer.' You have to be a great writer, a great director, a great actor. And I think part of what God has called me to do is try to really help because if we can make great content, [it] will break down barriers," he continued.
The Columbia Tristar VP insisted that if a film fails to represent the true journey of life, which is hard, then that movie will have a limited impact.
"So in faith-based films, we try to present an image of what we want to be, but not the reality of what really is. If a movie does not acknowledge the reality of life, even us as Christians, we won't want to see it."
The NRB panel was moderated by author, filmmaker Phil Cooke, also included Michael Harrison and Russell Moore.
Harrison called for authenticity and transcendence.
"Be authentic, and transcend the petty differences and the petty goals that separate us and create hostility. Be authentic, seek truth ahead of victory," he said.
"I think the business of broadcast industry will be best served if it's on the side of good, if it tries to help people, and talks about solutions to problems as opposed to the problems with other people. If we do that, I think ultimately we will be successful, healthy, and move in a positive direction."
Read full article
"I absolutely believe that a lot of times, when it comes to faith-based content, we portray sometimes the ideal of what we believe," DeVon Franklin, senior vice president of Production for Columbia Tristar Pictures, said during a panel on Christian engagement with the media, at the NRB International Christian Media Convention on Monday.
"We all have gone through tragedy, we all have gone through trauma, some of us are in pain right now – because life is not where we want it to be. Some of us are depressed, some of us are angry, some of us are frustrated, some of us have lost some loved ones, we all have gone through massive things that have happened to us."
Franklin, who oversaw notable films like "Sparkle," starring Whitney Houston in her last on-screen role, as well as "The Karate Kid" remake, and "The Pursuit of Happyness," and who is now helping with the upcoming film "Heaven is for Real," said Christians need to get beyond the points that divide them.
"If we aren't united, we will continue to see little blips on the radar, but fail to make a significant impact," he stressed.
Although Christians are making strides this year with a lot of content coming out in theaters, including "Son of God" this week, "Noah" in March and "Heaven is for Real" in April, there is still a lot of work to be done to really engage the entertainment industry, he said.
"It's not good enough to say 'I'm a Christian writer.' You have to be a great writer, a great director, a great actor. And I think part of what God has called me to do is try to really help because if we can make great content, [it] will break down barriers," he continued.
The Columbia Tristar VP insisted that if a film fails to represent the true journey of life, which is hard, then that movie will have a limited impact.
"So in faith-based films, we try to present an image of what we want to be, but not the reality of what really is. If a movie does not acknowledge the reality of life, even us as Christians, we won't want to see it."
The NRB panel was moderated by author, filmmaker Phil Cooke, also included Michael Harrison and Russell Moore.
Harrison called for authenticity and transcendence.
"Be authentic, and transcend the petty differences and the petty goals that separate us and create hostility. Be authentic, seek truth ahead of victory," he said.
"I think the business of broadcast industry will be best served if it's on the side of good, if it tries to help people, and talks about solutions to problems as opposed to the problems with other people. If we do that, I think ultimately we will be successful, healthy, and move in a positive direction."
Read full article
Thursday, January 16, 2014
NBC Orders Church Drama Pilot From ‘Six Feet Under’ Producer
NBC has ordered a new drama pilot from David Janollari, the former MTV programming exec and “Six Feet Under” producer.
“Salvation” will be executive produced and written by “Deception” writer/producer Liz Heldens.
It is described as a provocative drama set against the backdrop of a prominent Texas church where faith, family and corruption are explored in equal measure. The pilot centers on Jennifer Strickland, who has to defend her children, church and religious beliefs after her husband dies under mysterious circumstances.
“Salvation” will go into contention for a series order alongside NBC’s previously announced drama pilots
“Salvation” will be executive produced and written by “Deception” writer/producer Liz Heldens.
It is described as a provocative drama set against the backdrop of a prominent Texas church where faith, family and corruption are explored in equal measure. The pilot centers on Jennifer Strickland, who has to defend her children, church and religious beliefs after her husband dies under mysterious circumstances.
“Salvation” will go into contention for a series order alongside NBC’s previously announced drama pilots
Monday, September 9, 2013
Is There a Future for NoiseTrade?
Nice article on why Noisetrade co-founder Derek Webb thinks his 6-year-old music site still beats the streaming services and has survived despite the increase in piracy.
Friday, April 5, 2013
Where Has All the Christian Music Media Gone?
The Sound Opinion has a nice post on the decline of coverage of Christian music. It's worth a read.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Music's lost decade
If you watched the Grammy Awards Sunday night, it would appear all is well in the recording industry. But at the end of last year, the music business was worth half of what it was ten years ago and the decline doesn't look like it will be slowing anytime soon.
Total revenue from U.S. music sales and licensing plunged to $6.3 billion in 2009, according to Forrester Research. In 1999, that revenue figure topped $14.6 billion.
"The digital music business has been a war of attrition that nobody seems to be winning," said David Goldberg, the former head of Yahoo music. "The CD is still disappearing, and nothing is replacing it in entirety as a revenue generator."
Now just 44% of U.S. Internet users and 64% of Americans who buy digital music think that that music is worth paying for, according to Forrester. The volume of unauthorized downloads continues to represent about 90% of the market, according to online download tracker BigChampagne Media Measurement.
The full insightful article can be found on CNN Money.
Total revenue from U.S. music sales and licensing plunged to $6.3 billion in 2009, according to Forrester Research. In 1999, that revenue figure topped $14.6 billion.
"The digital music business has been a war of attrition that nobody seems to be winning," said David Goldberg, the former head of Yahoo music. "The CD is still disappearing, and nothing is replacing it in entirety as a revenue generator."
Now just 44% of U.S. Internet users and 64% of Americans who buy digital music think that that music is worth paying for, according to Forrester. The volume of unauthorized downloads continues to represent about 90% of the market, according to online download tracker BigChampagne Media Measurement.
The full insightful article can be found on CNN Money.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Hollywood Conservatives Launch Effort to Change Entertainment Industry
In an industry dominated by the political left, conservatives are coming together on a new platform with a mission to change Hollywood and to restore it to its patriotic roots.
Launched last week, Big Hollywood is not a gossip outpost but a group blog featuring hundreds of conservatives from the fields of politics, journalism, entertainment and culture.
Launched last week, Big Hollywood is not a gossip outpost but a group blog featuring hundreds of conservatives from the fields of politics, journalism, entertainment and culture.
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