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Last August, when Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Gulf Coast, one of the millions of people watching in horror was producer Jerry Bruckheimer. As the tragedy unfolded, he and director Tony Scott decided to stick to their plan to shoot the Denzel Washington thriller Deja Vuin New Orleans, even though that meant pushing back production four months. Now, some six weeks into filming, Bruckheimer can't help but feel good about the choice. ''The crew members seem so grateful that we stuck to our guns,'' he says. ''[We told them] we're gonna wait and get it right. And we did.''
Deja Vu was the first movie to set up shop in the post-Katrina Big Easy — including two days in the Ninth Ward — but it's just one of six projects currently shooting in Louisiana. Among the others are the Sandra Bullock psychological drama Premonition and The Guardian, a $70 million-plus Kevin Costner/Ashton Kutcher feature about the Coast Guard. In fact, the film community has been one of the first to embrace the hurricane-ravaged state, providing jobs, money, and moral support.
The numbers tell the story. In 2005, Louisiana netted $180 million from the movie industry, and Deja Vu, with its estimated $90 million budget, could yield as much as $30 million more. (Louisiana's favorable tax breaks — which can be as high as 15 percent — are major attractions for studios.) That may seem like peanuts next to billions of government dollars, but the return of Hollywood has created well over 600 jobs, according to Alex Schott, director of the state's Office of Film & Television Development. ''The industry has helped a lot of people who otherwise would be out of work,'' he explains. ''So many people lost their jobs and homes. They need to make money and get on with their lives.''
George Hickenlooper, director of Factory Girl, the Edie Sedgwick biopic starring Sienna Miller, sensed a boost in morale among his team in the northwestern city of Shreveport. ''A lot of my crew are displaced New Orleans residents,'' Hickenlooper told EW on set in January. ''So it's been very emotional. Our crew has bonded into this tight family.'' In addition to Factory Girl, the Shreveport area has hosted no fewer than five Hollywood productions since Katrina, including an ESPN movie, Ruffian. (Hilary Swank shot The Reaping 240 miles away in Baton Rouge.) For Andrew Davis, director of The Guardian, location was especially significant. ''Many of the Coast Guard rescue swimmers, pilots, and mechanics who worked on our movie had saved hundreds of lives in New Orleans,'' he says. ''To pay tribute to the heroes is a really appropriate reason to be in Louisiana.''
