Film Equals Jobs

This past May, while screenwriters and their supporters were picketing outside of Hollywood studios with signs that read things like “Are you not entertained? Pay writers!” and “WGA vs. Succession characters”—a group of Louisiana film workers assembled in the Louisiana legislature’s committee rooms wearing buttons that said simply: “Film=jobs”.

They were there to lobby for an extension of the Louisiana Motion Picture Investor Tax Credit, which offers tax subsidies of 25% to 40% on expenses related to film production for projects made in Louisiana—one of the country’s most generous incentive programs for filmmaking.

By June, Governor John Bel Edwards had signed HB562 into law, demonstrating the state’s continuing investment in its local film industry, which has seen significant growth over the past two decades since the program was first developed in 2002. In 2022 alone, Louisiana was ranked fifth highest in the country for number of motion picture industry jobs (over 10,000), and the industry generated over $286 million in earnings for Louisiana workers, plus $607 million spent in Louisiana on film projects.

The reinstatement of the tax credit program, which is now in effect until 2031, was a major win for the local film industry—which has not only brought lucrative projects to the region, but has also helped to make it a sustainable and opportune home for thousands of filmmakers, screenwriters, actors, digital effects creators, and crew workers.

“A lot of people, even locally, think of entertainment like making movies as a very California, Hollywood, thing. But all of the films made here in Louisiana are made by majority Louisiana residents. You can really make a decent living in Louisiana in film these days,” said Lucius Fontenot, who has worked as a lighting technician in the industry since 2020, “but right now . . .”

This summer’s local legislative victory was, of course, tempered by the discord taking place in America’s film industry as a whole. Starting on May 2, the WGA’s strike—followed on July 14 by a simultaneous strike by the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA)—effectively shut down production for most major film and television projects across the country. The financial impact of Louisiana’s film industry in 2022, which saw a significant boost coming out of the pandemic, will be followed by a year of greatly reduced production. 

At press time, American film workers are only just starting to see a glimmer of light at the end of this long tunnel without work. On October 9, the (WGA) ratified a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), ending the union’s 148-day strike with wins that include increased royalties for streaming content and job protections put in place against the rise of artificial intelligence.

On October 2, SAG-AFTRA began their own negotiations with AMPTP after 76 days of striking for similar amendments to their contracts, which ended on October 12 after industry CEOs walked away from the bargaining table, refusing to meet the demands of the union. In a public statement, SAG-AFTRA said they would not be standing down, “We stand united and ready to negotiate today, tomorrow, and every day. Our resolve is unwavering.” On October 24, negotiations resumed, and are still underway. 

The walkouts that spurred the first shutdown of the industry in over sixty years are a reaction to the radically-altered landscape of media consumption—marked by decreased attendance at movie theaters, the shifts from cable and network television to streaming, and the introduction of artificial intelligence and other new technology. Hollywood’s existing economic model has failed to adequately adapt to the changing system, shifting proceeds even more heavily onto executives and studios over writers and actors, who have seen significant reductions in residual compensation across the board.

Though the strikes will hopefully result in important and necessary changes for the industry’s labor force, the impact of these past five months without work has been immense for film workers—even beyond the writers and actors actually on strike, extending to operators of studio facilities like Celtic Studios in Baton Rouge, to VFX workers, to crews—who make up the majority of Louisiana’s film industry employees.

“Louisiana’s film industry is based around crew—cameramen, hair and makeup, lighting, craft services—which are not technically on strike. Because we stand in solidarity with the striking unions, [crews] aren’t working on any of those projects. But also without the actors and actresses, there’s just nothing to work on,” said Fontenot—who also noted that in anticipation of the unions’ contract renewals earlier this year, many of the studios started slowing down production as early as January. “The reality is, most of us are going into eight or more months of not working.”

Fontenot, like most other film workers, said he has been getting by picking up small jobs here and there, working on low-paying independent projects and other creative gigs. “Some of the very low-budget, non-union shows are getting the cream of the crop as far as crew, because so little is being filmed right now, and everyone’s struggling, and everyone’s looking for work,” he said. He’s observed many people moving out of the industry altogether, taking jobs with construction crews or in the service industry. “Some are just kind of riding it out,” he said. “Making it work.”

Louisianans are used to volatile conditions, of course—weathering the destruction of annual hurricanes, the ever-present threat of displacement. So many people here work in demanding and unpredictable sectors such as hospitality, agriculture, seafood, and oil. “It’s one of the reasons why Louisiana is a good place for the film industry, is we have these blue-collar skills already built in, this generational work ethic,” said Fontenot. “A lot of people in film in Louisiana come from the service industry, from offshore, from the military—they are used to these hierarchal systems, where everyone works and does their part through what looks like amazing chaos.”

As the fight continues for fair working conditions in film in America, solidarity is owed to fellow Louisianans working to produce this media we all enjoy, that has contributed so much to our state in the realms of economy and storytelling alike. Following all the work and investment that’s been done to bring the magic and money of Hollywood down South come also the calls for change and the ensuing struggles—not to be felt only by the ultra-wealthy on red carpets half a country away, but in our backyard, by our neighbors. 

For the latest updates on SAG-AFTRA's ongoing strike, visit sagaftra.org.