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If she were to audition for this role, she would need much bigger earrings. Actress Shanna Forrestall had prepared to try out for a bit part as a businesswoman in Welcome to Academia when at the last minute she was asked to audition for a larger one. The role? A reformed porn star who brawls with a liberal professor who’d been portraying the skin industry as empowering to women. “She was the only character in the script that speaks the truth,” Forrestall says. “The more I act, the more addicted I am.”

With only five minutes to prepare the lines and tease out her hair, she won over the director and earned the part. The message to the filmmakers was clear: Louisiana isn’t just for tax credits; it is a source of major talent, too. The filmmakers looked all over New York City for the part, but found Forrestall right here.

More importantly, last summer Forrestall started a company that injected a huge private sector boost to the local film industry. Louisiana Film Resources acts like an agency for local services—everything from restaurants to security to locations—and pitches those vendors to incoming film productions like a talent agent would pitch actors to a director. The small company has grown to the point where Forrestall is talking to Hollywood producers six months to a year out from their start dates instead of taking the risk that filmmakers will still need services and be looking locally for them after they arrive.

“I’m just trying to figure out every way everyone can work together because I don’t want the film industry to leave,” she says. “How can the state win? How can the industry win? How can local businesses win? I’m constantly networking because that’s the way to keep the industry here and make it thrive.”

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