As state legislators debate a budget that would hack Louisiana’s spending on areas from health care to transportation, film industry folks were keeping their fingers crossed for a “no," until the bill changed. 

A three-alarm fire scorched a movie production stage that was under construction at the NASA's Michoud facility in New Orleans East, according to the New Orleans Fire Department. The blaze started around 8:20 p.m., and NOFD dispatched a fire truck that is stationed at Michoud to begin battling the fire. Smoke was billowing from the doors of the large warehouse structure, and firefighters found large pallets of insulation burning on the inside.

In Hollywood South, all those discrete signs appeared to point to Beautiful Creatures lately, and a trailer released today is demonstrating why. The movie was filmed in New Orleans and on the Northshore, and is based on a supernatural story of love originally written as a novel by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. Judging from the teaser, it appears to have all the visual ingredients of an epic. And for those looking for acting chops, there's even a little Emma Thompson for good measure.  Click through to view the trailer.

by Chase Lowenstein

To all the aspring NOLA filmmakers out there, there's a new way to get in the door of Hollywood South - and it doesn't involve beating up a security guard and sneaking on the set. October 20-21 marks the dates of the Mayor's Office of Cultural Economy and the New Orleans Video Access Center's (NOVAC) production assistant training course. The course includes two free days of training for those who aspire to work behind the scenes in this city's thriving film industry.

Nicolas Cage once again saw the inside of a NOPD squad car and ended up fighting people in the Crescent City, but this time it's all legal because, well, it's the movies. Cage stars in the soon-to-be-released action movie Stolen, which features lots of explosions, frantic talking and running. There's some bars, parades and other recognizable New Orleans settings, too - including Cage's French Quarter house. The film is scheduled for a Sept. 14 release. Click through to view the trailer:

It’s prime time for celebrity sightings in “The Hollywood South,” with tax credits motivating studios to send their productions down to the dirty for filming. However, some industry players are betting that the stars on streetcars are just the edge of a galaxy.

A group of partnering film production companies have completed a five-year renovation project to a historic Esplanade Ave. building, and are looking to open up shop in September. Seven Arts Entertainment will operate production and post-production work for movies in the mansion at the corner of Esplanade Ave. and Bourbon St. Hollywood South mainly relied on location shooting for initial growth, but local post-production facilities mean more movies will be completed here, as well.

Most of the movie-making in New Orleans remains rooted in Tinsel Town. However, productions rely on locals to provide a little something extra.

by Mary-Devon Dupuy

Jaqueline Fleming might look familiar from some of her minor roles in movies like Red and Contraband, but you’ll definitely recognize her after seeing Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, in which she graces the big screen as the first woman to ever play Harriet Tubman on film. Fleming decided that she loved the Hollywood South so much that she wanted to start her own project here, and she’s in the process of finding a network for her new sitcom that also features Q93 DJ Wild Wayne in a recurring role.  

Celebrity sightings aside, living in Hollywood South doesn't afford us too many perks when it comes to the movies themselves. Sure, some of us might get to be extras, but we have to see the movies at the same time as everyone else. (Or after depending on if the film has a tiered release schedule that favors the "primary markets"). In the case of Django Unchained, or at least its newly released trailer, we don't even get to see ourselves on the screen. Watch the trailer after the jump, and see a movie that was shot in New Orleans, but looks like it wasn't.