New Federal Grant Allows for Nims Center Expansion
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 7, 2009
Contact Information: Darren Alberti
ELMWOOD, LA — A recently announced $3 million federal grant will be paired with state funding to expand the region’s sole full service film production facility.
The new federal grant will be combined with a $1.5 million grant from the State of Louisiana to further develop the Nims Center Studios for Entertainment Arts in Jefferson Parish. The money will be used to build a 10,000-square-foot sound stage and an additional office building at the facility.
The expansion of the Nims Center will allow the region to capitalize on Louisiana’s successful film tax incentives program that has put the state on the cutting edge of film production. The Nims Center has become a hub of film production and economic activity in the region, providing studio space for major films, television commercials, and music videos.
“Louisiana is now the number three film-making destination in the country, behind only Hollywood and New York,” says GNO, Inc. President and CEO Michael Hecht, “and the Nims Center is one of the main reasons why. While the rest of the country is retrenching, Greater New Orleans continues to expand its production capacity, positioning our region to be a major film force in the future.”
The design and construction phase of the Nims Center expansion should provide an additional immediate boost to the region’s economy. The Division of Economic Research at the University of New Orleans reports that the infrastructure project will generate 400 new jobs and $132 million in private investment.
Nims Center Studios is a division of the University of New Orleans Foundation and is operated in cooperation with the University of New Orleans, the Louisiana Governor’s Office of Film & Television Development, New Orleans Office of Film & Video, and Jefferson Parish President’s Office. To learn more about the facility, click here.
