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In Brief

Post production ushers in a new era for Louisiana’s film industry

The 7th ward district of New Orleans, known locally as Treme, is home to some of the greatest musicians of our time.  Louis Armstrong, Kermit Ruffins and the Hot 8 Brass Band have all nurtured their talents in the streets of this historic neighborhood and now it’s not just musicians that will have a chance to ply their craft in Treme.

With the opening of Maison Post, New Orleans’ newest and most advanced post-production film studio, films shot in and around New Orleans – and elsewhere – can now complete post-production in the city.  Maison recently began work on The Mechanic, starring Jason Statham and Donald Sutherland and directed by Simon West (Con Air, Laura Croft: Tomb Raider.)  This landmark movie is the first major Hollywood production opting to do post-production in New Orleans.

The Mechanic project is significant not only for Maison Post but also for Louisiana’s film industry. Studio founders predict this milestone project will kick-start new post-production projects for Maison and lure future projects to Louisiana.  Chris Stelly, head of Louisiana's film office, said this decision is a significant step for the local film economy. 

“As the Louisiana film industry has steadily grown, we’ve been able to do everything from pre-production to production,” says Stelly. “We’re now starting to see the growth of the post-production industry.” 

Stelly recognizes the opportunity for Maison Post to attract and retain New Orleans talent.  Post-production job opportunities are now available to locals who would otherwise be forced to head to New York or Hollywood. 

Housed in a 150-year-old mansion on Esplanade Ave., Maison Post was developed by film industry veterans T.G. Herrington and Kyle Curry to fill the post-production gap in the booming Louisiana film industry.  The team used the state’s film infrastructure incentive to assist with financing the $2 million renovation project, transforming an abandoned and rundown building into multiple editing suites designed to make editors and their teams feel at home while working long hours editing films and commercials.

“We want to change the perception in Hollywood that post-production work isn’t possible in Louisiana,” says studio co-founder and veteran editor, Herrington. “With advances in technology and the industry’s interest in tax incentives, we are changing that perception.” 

Filmmakers interested in staying in Louisiana after production wraps can take advantage of the 30 percent incentive on production expenditures within the state.  Regardless of whether or not a project was filmed in Louisiana, the law allows the state to issue tax credits on post-production work alone. This incentive, combined with Maison Post’s state-of-the-art-technology and old world space, will transform New Orleans into a post-production destination, as well as a production hotspot for major motion pictures, documentaries, television shows, commercials and more.

“One look at Maison is all it took for me to want to edit the film here,” says Simon West, The Mechanic’s director. “We are working with state-of-the-art equipment and technology in an inspiring and comfortable environment—a welcomed departure from Hollywood’s post-production cubicles.  After enduring the rigors of shooting a film like The Mechanic, it’s nice to land in a place like Maison. Editing is a lengthy and painstaking process critical to the creation of a film; it is where all the parts of a film – picture, dialogue, sound and music—are pieced together. You need to be in a good spot to make it great.”