This week I had the pleasure of attending the Grand Opening of Millennium Studios in Shreveport, Louisiana. As some of you know, I have a “first look” deal with Millennium. I have enjoyed working with Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, and Danny Dimbort in various capacities since 1992. This week was the culmination of the company’s growth and it came in a small city in Northwestern Louisiana with a Democratic Mayor.
Mayor Cedric Glover may be a Democrat, but he is a great conservative when it comes to business. He helped us in many ways when we were building the studio including helping us in the land acquisition and facilitating a loan from the city when the economy collapsed and we needed a little extra cash to make sure the project did not fall apart.
This whole project started as an idea when I was in Shreveport shooting “Mad Money” in the Spring of 2007. During that time I became acquainted with Cedric Glover and his city council. My colleague and I, Michael Flannigan, spent a good deal of time working with the city during the production of “Mad Money” and Mayor Glover started talking about how he wanted to support the film industry and help it grow in Shreveport. At that time, Louisiana had a 40% entertainment industry infrastructure tax credit in place. We decided that if the City had land that was not being used, maybe we could lease it and take advantage of the tax credit to develop and build a movie studio.
Michael and I discussed this idea with the owners of Millennium Films, and with the encouragement of all three of them, especially Avi Lerner, we proceeded to identify some land that the city had available. Michael and I then filed the application for the State Infrastructure Tax Credit and it was approved. We then proceeded to negotiate a lease with the City for the aforementioned land along with the help of our Shreveport Attorney Dannye Malone.
Now, it was time to finance the construction. Unfortunately, the Stock Market collapsed in September, 2008 and the financing became impossible. No bank would even consider a real estate development deal in late 2008, let alone a movie studio. This is when we saw the true power and dedication of, not only Mayor Glover, but the entire municipal government in Shreveport. They, along with Avi Lerner, would not let the project die.
After exhausting what we thought were all possibilities, a financing package came together, which included a partial loan from the City of Shreveport. Construction began in late 2009. And, yesterday, we had the grand opening of the first phase of the studio which is now fully operational. When all of the phases are complete, the Shreveport facility will be a 20 acre studio with a complete back lot that will include various facades representing exteriors in different parts of the world.
Right now, in the initial phase, we have two fully soundproofed stages, production offices for two films, an integrated CGI visual EFX house, storage, commissary and a screening room. Phase two includes the building of some storage warehouses and, as mentioned earlier, some facades.
This studio represents an example of what government can do when it’s pro-business and really wants to create jobs. Between the State of Louisiana Department of Economic Development, through its representative, Chris Stelly and the City of Shreveport, this package came together with a relatively small investment in taxpayer dollars. Already, it has created more than 80 full time jobs in Shreveport and approximately 150 part time or seasonal jobs. The area of the city where the studio was built is now going through gentrification and will become an active and productive part of the city. It will no longer be a blight on the city where drug dealers and prostitutes sold there wares.
The economic benefit to the city and the State is already being seen. The jobs created will bring more tax revenue in the form of income taxes from the already employed. In addition, the area will attract other businesses which will generate more tax revenues. This is real stimulus. It is government aid in the creation of job in the private sector, not the public sector. This represents an actual example of Republican theory at work.
It is not the stimulus the Obama Administration gave us in 2009 which included longer unemployment benefits, the creation of temporary jobs, the creation of public sector jobs which will require constant tax dollars to maintain, and massive union payoffs, etc. And, the cost of the Millennium Studios project was born at the state level, not federal. It is small government doing what it does best. Not the gigantic federal monster which the Obama Administration would like to have take over the economy. It is proof that Federalism works.
If only the Obama Administration would realize this and keep out of the economy. Had the stimulus and bailouts not gone forward, the country would be completely out of recession at this point. The economy would have taken care of itself. Now, instead, our children are burdened with another four trillion dollars of debt. The still-in-power Democratic Senate refuses to listen to the Republican House on ways to curtail the ridiculous Federal spending.
In the meantime, congratulations to Millennium Studios and to my colleagues, Avi Lerner, Trevor Short and Danny Dimbort. And, one more time, thank you to the City of Shreveport, its Mayor, Cedrick Glover and the State of Louisiana for backing and supporting business and industry in the private sector.
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