City of New Orleans announces the return of film production
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NEW ORLEANS, LA (WGNO) — On Tuesday, it was announced that film production will return to New Orleans, with filming to take place beginning next week.
The first production to shoot in the city since work was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic is an Amazon Prime series that was filming prior to the shut-down. Several major studios, including Disney, Sony and CBS, are anticipated to begin shooting in the coming months.
In order to begin filming again, productions will be required to adhere to the highest health and safety guidelines established by the industry’s guilds and unions. A lot of work has gone into establishing both state and local guidelines, including those recently issued by the New Orleans Film Office.
Productions will be operating with reduced crews, COVID-19 testing one to five times a week for cast and crew, and PPE and sanitizing stations. Each production will have an on-set Health and Safety Supervisor and will hire sanitization companies to clean sets prior, during and after filming.
“The film industry has been a leader in establishing national COVID-19 health and safety guidelines. With each film crew consisting of 85 percent local workers, the return of productions means getting our residents back to work in an industry that will ensure that they are safe,” said Carroll Morton, Director of Film New Orleans.
New Orleans has established itself as a major production hub in the U.S., attracting major feature films, television series and commercials with an economic impact of $1.2 billion in the city since 2010. The City has continued to expand hosting television series such as “Queen of the South,” “NCIS: New Orleans” and “Claws” filming here as well as the upcoming Netflix film “Power” with Jamie Fox and the recently released Russell Crowe film “Unhinged.”
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