 New Sci-Fi flick “ Ender’s Game” is all the talk in both Hollywood and Hollywood South. This movie, featuring Hugo’s Asa Butterfield, has been filming in and around New Orleans for the past month and seeks to recreate the epic adventures of the book on which it is based. In order to do so, the production team had to reach for the stars- literally. In order to realistically portray the grand scale of the setting, the cast and crew of “ Ender’s Game” have been making use of the NASA sound stage. This area was previously used to build the actual space shuttles! The production team is keeping a pretty tight lid on what exactly this new picture requires such large set for, but it has everyone eagerly anticipating the film’s release. As if the setting and special effects weren’t enough, this new movie has recruited a long list of celebrated actors that shining an extra spotlight on New Orleans. In addition to Butterfield, the film has also cast Sir Ben Kingsley, Harrison Ford, and Viola Davis. So until the movie’s 2013 release, we’ll all just have to settle with spotting this fantastic cast around the Bayou. For more on this story, visit MTV.com.
 Don’t let the title “ The Last Exorcism” fool you- because the creative team is already making plans for the sequel! That’s right, “ The Last Exorcism II” is already in pre-production, with plans for a 2013 release date. Actress Ashley Bell is cast to revisit the role of Nell Sweetzer in this new addition in the Exorcist saga, however no other actors names have yet been released for this project. The Director will be Ed Gass-Donnelly who has been making a name for himself at various film festivals. This horror flick begins filming here in New Orleans this spring, and local casting directors have already been scouting local talent. Check back to Southern Celebrity Gossip for more updates about this project. For more on this movie, visit NOLA.com.
 The 2009 flick, “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans” made the news a while back for Nick Cage’s wild performance in the movie. His character Lieutenant Terrence McDonagh is a drug and gambling addicted, corrupt cop in a post-Katrina New Orleans. Cage’s extravagant performance in this role earned the film an 87% Rotten Tomatoes’ rating, and added a whole new level to his portfolio. But not all the press about this picture is positive. It appears that the producers are receiving some harsh accusations from the movie’s investors. According to sources, the producers of this film have been “siphoning” off the proceeds, and failing to pay back those who put up money to help make this film. The investors have gone as far as to file a lawsuit against Nu Image and First Look Studios, trying to recover what they consider to be their fair share or profits. The Hollywood Reporter writes, “investors in the 2009 Nicolas Cage film Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call—New Orleans… say that the defendants failed to properly set up the collection account [and have been] improperly deducting expenses, failing to disburse proceeds, and not accurately and truthfully accounting for all of the money.” At this time there is no comment from Nu Image or First Look Studios, but this case will move to trial if a settlement can not be reached. To stay up to date on this story, follow what The Hollywood Reporter is saying!
Active Entertainment recently added substantial production space when it moved into Raleigh Studios at Celtic Media Centre in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Emerging into the Louisiana market four years ago, Active has since completed 12 feature films. Its latest features have had great success around the world, delivering some of the highest television ratings in its history. In addition, Acitve has expanded its contracts for international sales to include three more films in 2011. Patrick Mulhearn, Director of Studio Operations for Celtic Media Centre, said, "We are extremely pleased to welcome Active Entertainment as a true anchor tenant to Celtic Media Centre. Their seasoned management team, proven track record and volume of work currently in production and in development make this an exceptionally big win for Raleigh Studios and the Baton Rouge area." The extraordinary facilities at Raleigh Studios, couple with Active's team of production and post-production talent, which is led by COO Daniel Lewis, will give producers around the world a great opportunity to enable their projects to be financed, filmed, and delivered with amazing quality and lower cost. Continue reading more about Active Entertainment here
A movie directed by and starring Forest Whitaker will begin filming today in Covington. The movie was announced by Mayor Mike Cooper at the Covington Council meeting Tuesday night and is termed a psychological thriller "voodoo horror film" named "Vipaka." It will be filmed in the vicinity of Jefferson Avenue and 19th Street and other spots around town. Officers have been assigned to the film crew and the police will try to keep the roadways cleared as best we can," said Covington Police Chief Richard Palmisano. "The beginning of school traffic is always confusing, but we will have officers on the scene to help. While filming on Jefferson Avenue, we will make certain their 18-wheelers are not in the car pool areas of St. Peter's School."Continue reading here
The high school-set thriller feature film "Downers Grove", starring Hayden Panettiere, is set to go before the cameras October, 2011. Shooting will take place in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana area. Casting for supporting roles, day players, extras, stand-ins, and photo doubles will continue throughout production. The main stars are being cast in Los Angeles, and the smaller roles and extras are cast in Baton Rouge.
Continue reading on Examiner.com
 Gael Garcia Bernal and Kate Hudson shoot a scene in New Orleans Kate Hudson's New Orleans-shot romantic drama "Earthbound" might have changed its title to "A Little Bit of Heaven" -- but now it appears to be caught in limbo.The so-called "cancer comedy," which shot in town in early 2009 -- and which co-stars Whoopi Goldberg, Kathy Bates, Lucy Punch, Treat Williams and Gael Garcia Bernal -- is one of two films caught up in recent financial turmoil that has brought down The Film Department.
Earlier today (May 5), it was announced that the fledgling production shingle, whose steep profits on the Jamie Foxx thriller "Law Abiding Citizen" weren't enough to keep creditors at bay, would be closing up shop by the end of the month. The company had hoped to evolve into a production and distribution outfit, but in a report posted on The Hollywood Reporter's website, "the company said it was a victim of the aftermath of the credit crisis and was unable to raise additional equity and debt needed to move forward and expand into U.S. distribution."
That leaves "A Little Bit of Heaven" -- which shot under the working title "Earthbound" -- and the Catherine Zeta Jones rom-com "Rebound" with uncertain futures.
According to the Reporter, Film Department honchos are in talks to find third-party U.S. distributors for the films, but no deals are in place.
Producers had hoped to see "A Little Bit of Heaven" land in theaters by late this year, but now it's unclear if that will happen -- particularly after its European release generated less-than-enthusiastic reviews.
In the film, Hudson stars as a woman who falls in love with her doctor (Bernal) after being diagnosed with cancer. It was originally set in Los Angeles, but the filmmakers reset it in New Orleans after the production was moved here to take advantage of the state's tax incentives for filmmakers. That saw it evolve into what producers called "a love letter to New Orleans," featuring a wealth of local scenery as well as original music by Ivan Neville.
The read the full list please visit the Louisiana Entertainment Office
By Lolis Eric Elie
At ‘Treme,’ we take great pride in the fact that we shoot on location in New Orleans. In that way we are constantly in touch with the real people and places we seek to portray. It’s still necessary to construct sets from time to time. After all, for our first season we were shooting in the fall of 2009 in an effort to recreate events from the fall of 2005; and now we are turning 2011 into 2006. A lot has changed.
It is our production designer Chester Kaczenski who creates these illusions. His job can be as simple as choosing and placing a few accent pieces (a painting on this wall, a desk on that one) in a home or office that we have appropriated for a set. It can be as complicated as recreating an entire block of storm-ruined houses.
From time to time, we’ll be featuring some before and after photos of Chester’s work to give you some sense of how the material world of ‘Treme’ comes to be.
 Wild Man Jesse's street WILD MAN JESSE
Looking back to first season, in Episode 103, Albert Lambreaux goes to the Lower 9th Ward to the home of Jesse Hurd, the “wild man” of his Indian tribe. Albert finds Wild Man Jesse’s body underneath a canoe, in the garage behind the house.
The house we used for the scene had no garage. The street we used had been cleaned up and, though not pristine, it didn’t look like it did in 2005. The question for Chester was how to convey this destruction even though the camera would not necessarily pause to show all of the finer details of his design work.
“From my research of that time, I knew a lot of the telephone poles were down. We made a few fake telephone poles. If you didn’t see much, you could at least see that.
“There was lots of sand and mud around, so we sprayed mud and wet river sand everywhere. The house we used for Wild Man Hurd’s was not being lived in. They were going to tear it down. So we were able to add another layer of mud.
“The script called for seeing the body. We built a single-car garage and aged it down. We got a special body from an effects house in Los Angeles, a decomposed corpse. Then we had to make the clothes look decomposed.
“When we were doing this, we went into the neighborhoods and talked to people in the immediate block to be respectful and to hear their stories. We wanted them to be on board with what we were trying to do. I thought that was really important. Even though you are telling a story that is sympathetic to the community, it’s still entertainment, and these people had just lived through all this. We also had cleanup crews come in as soon as we were through.”
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