LOUISIANA'S READY TO ROLL STATE STILL TRYING TO LURE FILM, TV CREWS.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

Undaunted by Hurricane Katrina, city and state officials from Louisiana will be in Los Angeles next week to try and re-establish their state as something of a Hollywood South.

A delegation from Louisiana will meet with studio and network executives and film and television producers over three days to talk about their economic development recovery strategy, incentives such as tax credits, and to tout the state's growing crew and talent base.

``All of us in Louisiana are reeling from the blows of Katrina and Rita, but the Baton Rouge market is poised to welcome those who want to take advantage of our generous tax incentive programs and the natural beauty, cityscapes and rural charm of our area,'' Louisiana state Sen. Jay Dardenne said in a statement Thursday.

In the past year, Louisiana had quickly become nearly as big a headache to the Southern California movie industry as the runaway-production capital, Canada, with an increasing number of projects being lured south by generous tax incentives and a rapidly growing production infrastructure.

The biopic ``Ray,'' starring Jamie Foxx, the comedy ``The Dukes of Hazzard'' and the mystery ``Skeleton Key'' were among the 2005 releases shot in the state.

The hurricane had appeared, at least for the immediate future, to quickly wash away the state's ambitious plans. Several major studio films had to be halted in midproduction, while other projects in preproduction were thrown into question.

The Walt Disney Co.'s Touchstone Pictures had to delay the start of production on ``Deja Vu,'' starring Denzel Washington, and ``The Guardian,'' starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher. Preproduction crews for both films had to be evacuated by chartered jet just before the hurricane hit.

The studio said Thursday it is sticking with Louisiana for both films, with ``Guardian'' set to begin filming in early December in Shreveport while the plan for ``Deja Vu'' is to film in New Orleans beginning in late January or early February 2006.

California Film Commission Director Amy Lemisch views Louisiana as ``just one of many entities that are coming to meet with executives at the major companies and studios to sell their incentive program. A few weeks ago, the governor of Kentucky was in town making rounds. Louisiana is coming in to tout their program and they want to let people know the offer still stands.''

Steve McDonald, executive director of the Los Angeles Entertainment Industry Development Corp., said such competition ``keeps us honest.''

``Louisiana was very successful with their incentive program, and that success is something we use to try to alert our policymakers and let them know the importance of keeping production in town,'' McDonald said. ``When you have other jurisdictions vying for business, it's always a concern.''

Last week, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa made a gesture toward stemming runaway production by proposing to waive fees for filming at City Hall. Villaraigosa also plans to develop other incentives and said he would support proposed state legislation that would give a tax credit to companies that film primarily in California.

Jack Kyser, chief economist of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., believes the state needs all the incentives it can get. But he is skeptical of Louisiana's ability to lure back productions, at least in the short term.

``You can go to Baton Rouge, but costs are going up and it's hard to find hotel rooms and apartments. That makes it very expensive, regardless of any incentive you can get,'' Kyser said. ``In terms of New Orleans, they are in a real bind. They are trying to get the city back up and running but there is no housing for their workers. Anybody trying to do production in New Orleans would be viewed immediately as a nuisance and there would be a lot of hostility.''

But Larry Thomas, chairman of the Louisiana Capital Area Economic Development Allies, said the nine-parish area of the state he represents was left virtually untouched by both hurricanes and is ready for cameras to roll.

``This event is important for us to let producers know that not only are we open for film business, but we are also willing to go the extra mile to get the business,'' he said.

Greg Hernandez, [phone]

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com