Louisiana is losing film industry jobs at an alarming rate.
Citing numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a new report from Giggster says Louisiana had the highest percentage of decline in film industry jobs since 2024 at more than 32%, and it had the fourth most total job losses from 2024 to 2025.
IATSE Local 478 Business Agent Simonette Berry says Louisiana is in danger of losing a good chunk of what it had worked hard to build up in recent years.
“We were the first state to do film incentives in the entire country,” says Berry. “So we have been building these experienced crews for a long time. We also have a diverse range of locations and film infrastructure already here.”
Berry says with many countries offering aggressive tax incentives, Louisiana is not just competing with California and Georgia anymore.
“We’re competing against Ireland and the UK and Bulgaria and South Africa and Saudi Arabia, which now has a 60% incfentfive,” Berry says.
At one time, Louisiana offered one of the best film tax incentives in the world.
Berry says in order to remain competitivfilm crewfe in the film arena, Louisiana needs to do what it can to keep pace with the tax credits that other states and other countries are offering to lure these jobs away.film
“We need our state program to maintain stability and productivity,” says Berry. “That is what productions are looking for, and sometimes they’re planning years in advance.”
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