225BatonRouge.com

A little more than a year ago, Mayor Kip Holden, like a visionary on a hilltop, announced his grand plan to establish a group with the sole purpose of fostering the movie and digital arts industry in the parish. It’s intellectual property. It’s nonpolluting. It’s the future. The Baton Rouge Film Commission was born.

But the public has heard little from the group since. The eight-person commission and its advisory board of local industry professionals have been holed away in strategic planning meetings for the past six months. The group will announce the hiring of its executive director any day now. Joe Traigle, chair of the commission’s advisory board and owner of Sterling Studios, dishes on doing Hollywood with the mayor, the gambles of film production and why Shreveport is on such a hot streak.

225: Was the idea for a Baton Rouge Film Commission around for a while before it got off the ground?

Joe Traigle: The focus on film and entertainment as a whole really came out of the mayor’s office. Holden was the impetus. He saw the need and opportunity to make Baton Rouge a film-friendly venue. So the trick for Baton Rouge is to build on the tax incentives of the state and possibly add a little sugar for Baton Rouge to become very inviting to the industry.

It seems like a parish film commission would be working with the Louisiana Film Commission, but then at times be at odds with it as Baton Rouge competes against other cities in the state for productions. No?

The Louisiana Film Commission’s role is very well defined. They are not to promote specific cities, areas or regions. So to answer your question, we are always in concert with them, never in conflict.

But Baton Rouge definitely competes with New Orleans and with Shreveport, which has $130 million in film business booked for 2007 already.

It’s important to point out that it’s not a situation where Shreveport scooped Baton Rouge. The concentration of the state film business was in New Orleans, and what happened after Katrina is those people had to move. They wanted to come to Baton Rouge, but there was no room in the inn. Our hotels, offices, real estate were booked up. They continued north until they found a suitable venue. It just happened to be Shreveport. To their credit they recognized the opportunity, supported it and have capitalized on their good fortune. We wish them well, but we also wish Baton Rouge well.

You and Mayor Holden recently hosted a luncheon at the American Film Market in Los Angeles, where thousands of films are bought and sold. What did you take away from that?

We have to realize that Louisiana has great tax incentives now, but booth after booth of states at this flea market for film were saying “We’re passing tax credits, too. Come over here!” If we want to remain competitive in the future, we have to stay in front of this.

Because other states in the past year have been jumping on our bandwagon.

No, they’re jumping on us!

So you’re on the advisory board, which meets with the actual eight-member commission to sort of keep it on track? What are the meetings like?

In our first few months we’ve been focusing on working with the mayor to get the position of executive director of the film commission filled. But the mayor makes the final decision; it’s his appointment. Secondly we’ve been drawing up a strategic plan for growing the film business in the parish. We’ve got a good roadmap now.

In that process did the commission look at other cities that have a homegrown movie industry? Cities like Austin?

We did. But mostly we turned the mirror on ourselves and said, “What do we need to do?” Because someone else’s model doesn’t necessarily fit the uniqueness of Baton Rouge.

What qualities are you looking for in an executive director for the Baton Rouge Film Commission?

No. 1 is a great personality. Film and entertainment are personality businesses, and we need someone who can cultivate and maintain personal relationships in Hollywood. No. 2, we need someone with experience in the business because when an out-of-town film entity comes to Baton Rouge they talk in industry jargon, and our executive director needs to know what they are talking about before the conversation starts so we as a city can respond. Education is okay, but experience is more critical.

Are ties to Baton Rouge important?

That would be the icing on the cake. Understanding our culture is important to selling Baton Rouge to the film industry.

What about working with young people coming up—the film-oriented students and faculty at BRCC, LSU and Southern?

Each of those schools has a representative on the commission. One of our goals with the film industry is to keep more of our best and brightest here in Baton Rouge.

That’s incredibly important. As you pointed out earlier, if you look at the U.S. Census report, Louisiana was the only Southeastern state to lose population between 1995 and 2003. So how will the commission, as you said, “add the sugar” to lure films and companies specifically to Baton Rouge?

Local incentives are on our list to discuss this year. But we haven’t yet decided what, if anything, is feasible beyond the state incentives.

The whole film movement in Louisiana has a tough job: Convincing conservative lawmakers and economic development people that movies are a crucial part of the state’s long-term recovery. And yet, you’re an economic development guy, and you’ve started another career as a film financier.

It’s a hard thing to do when the state’s economic development people think of things only in terms of brick and mortar. Film is more intangible, but the benefits are absolutely tremendous. It’s so unlike anything I’ve done before. There are no boundaries. which means it’s highly intense when making decisions.