Mark Smith, former head of state film office, sentenced to 24 months after taking bribes for tax credits

From The Times-Picayune

by Laura Maggi
Mark Smith, the former lead recruiter responsible for recruiting movie companies to make films in Louisiana, will serve a two-year prison term for accepting bribes in exchange for giving lucrative state tax credits to a film producer, a federal judge ruled today.

U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt told Smith that he believed he was "sincerely remorseful," but said that his actions had tarnished the fledgling movie industry. "We live with the damage today," the judge said, as he put the finishing touches on two-year investigation of how the state awarded benefits to the companies that finance entertainment productions in the state.

Engelhardt said in determining the two-year prison sentence, much less than time Smith could have gotten, he balanced Smith's cooperation with federal investigators after his guilty plea in the fall of 2007 against the damage he wrought by accepting cash bribes from a film producer in exchange for doling out too many lucrative state tax credits.

That cooperation led to others being charged in the case: Malcolm Petal, the co-founder and head of the New Orleans company LIFT Productions and other firms and William Bradley, a Hammond attorney. Both men also pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to bribe a state official.

The bribes, worth $135,000, were channeled from Petal to Bradley, a former law-school friend of Smith, who then split the money with Smith. Engelhardt ordered Smith to pay a $67,5000 fine, saying he couldn't allow him to keep the ill-gotten gains.

"The sentence is fair and justified," Smith told the judge at the end of the proceedings. He was ordered to report to prison on August 31.

As the state's film commissioner, Smith had the authority to determine how many tax credits to award to productions filmed in Louisiana. Federal prosecutors have said he gave "way more" tax credits to Petal than he deserved based on how much money he actually spent.

The credits were valuable because upon receipt producers could sell them at a slight discount, meaning that they generated instant cash.

The focus of the investigation was $1.35 million in tax credits received by one of Petal's companies, Break Beat, for filming the 2003 Voodoo Music Festival.

The sentencing today brings the case to a close. Bradley was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Lance Africk earlier this month. Petal received the stiffest sentence, a five-year prison term also handed down by Africk.

Africk said at the time that he gave Petal the maximum sentence because his actions bolstered the state's reputation for rampant political corruption at a time when residents are striving to shed that image.

Former La. film official to be sentenced

From The Daily Advertiser
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge is set to sentence a former Louisiana film commissioner who pleaded guilty to taking bribe money to secure tax credits for a movie producer.

Mark S. Smith faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison when he is sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt.


Smith served as the state's film commissioner from 2003 to 2005. He pleaded guilty in 2007 to taking about $65,000 in bribes to help movie producer Malcolm Petal secure about $1.3 million in state tax credits for filming live music festivals.


Petal was sentenced in April to five years in prison for his role in the scheme. William Bradley, a lawyer who was the middleman for bribe payments to Smith, was sentenced earlier this month to 10 months in prison.

La.'s growing film industry boosts need for student actors

From The Daily Reveille

By Xerxes A. Wilson

At first glance it could look like any library, restaurant, bar or student workplace with people mulling around like any typical day. But after that initial glance, the fabricated nature of the moment quickly becomes apparent.

Movie sets are becoming a more common sight throughout Louisiana, and more students are using the growing film industry as an opportunity to both make ends meet and pursue their dreams.

Many students find the easiest way to get involved in the industry is as an extra, said Andrei Constantenescu, extra casting manager for Glorioso Casting, which is based in Shreveport.

For more, click here.

‘The Collector’ Brings Hard 'R' Goodness

From http://www.rabiddoll.com/node/841

Bringing a visceral edge back to American horror, “The Collector” is a film inspired by the uncompromising early works of such masters of horror as Dario Argento, John Carpenter and Tobe Hooper.

“Saw IV-VI” and “Feast” trilogy writers Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan co-wrote the film, with Dunstan stepping behind the camera to make his directorial debut. They were at Comic-Con International in San Diego to promote the film’s July 31 theatrical release, and set down Saturday with RabidDoll.com’s Bryant Griffin to discuss the project.

Originally conceived as a prequel to the "Saw" franchise and developed prior to Dunstan and Melton writing their Project Greenlight film "Feast," "The Collector" was sold as a pitch to Fortress Features and subsequently cut as a $5,000 trailer that caught the eye of Dimension Films. With Dimension providing a $3 million budget, the film was born and shot in 19 days in Louisiana.

The film stars Daniella Alonso ("Wrong Turn 2," "The Hills Have Eyes II), Josh Stewart, Michael Reilly Burke ("Ted Bundy"), Andrea Roth, Madeline Zima, Karley Scott Collins, Robert Wisdom and Juan Fernandez.

Film Production Update, Last Week of July 2009

Welcome to (225) 342-FILM, the official hotline of Louisiana Entertainment. Here’s what’s happening for the last week of July 2009:

Pre-Production (9)

The Sony Pictures feature film Battle: Los Angeles starring Aaron Eckhart is in pre-production in Louisiana with shooting scheduled for Shreveport from September 9 - October 9 and Baton Rouge from October 11- December 10. Resumes and inquires are being accepted by fax at (225) 330-6961 (no headshots, please).

The Disney feature film Secretariat starring Diane Lane is in pre-production in South Louisiana with shooting scheduled from September 28 through December 4. Resumes and inquiries are being accepted by e-mail at secretariat.themovie@gmail.com.

The Screen Gems feature film Straw Dogs starring Alexander Skarsgard, James Marsden, and Kate Bosworth is in pre-production in Shreveport with shooting scheduled to begin August 17 for eight weeks. Resumes and inquiries are being accepted by e-mail at strawdogslouisiana@gmail.com.

The independent feature film The Somnambulist is in pre-production in New Orleans with shooting scheduled from August 10 through August 29th. Resumes and inquiries are being accepted by e-mail at tst.nola@gmail.com.

The Nu Image/Millennium feature film The Mechanic starring Jason Statham will begin pre-production in New Orleans on August 10 and will shoot for nine weeks beginning October 14. Contact details are coming soon.

The Films in Motion feature film Wrong Side of Town Part II starring Rob Van Dam and Batiste is soft-prep in Baton Rouge with three weeks of shooting scheduled for late August and September. Resumes and inquiries are being accepted by e-mail at info@filmsinmotion.com.

The Bullet Films feature film Monster Wolf is in pre-production in Lafayette with shooting scheduled from September 21 through October 14. Resumes and inquiries are being accepted by e-mail at jobs@bulletfilms.net.

The Bullet Films feature film Swamp Shark is in soft-prep in Lafayette with shooting in Lafayette scheduled from Oct. 26 – November 18. Resumes and inquiries are being accepted by e-mail at jobs@bulletfilms.net.

The independent feature film Keep It Together will begin pre-production in late August and will shoot for five weeks in the New Orleans area. Details are coming soon.

Now Filming (4)

Horizon Entertainment’s feature film Father of Invention starring Kevin Spacey, Camilla Belle, Heather Graham, Virginia Madsen, Johnny Knoxville and Craig Robinson is shooting in the New Orleans area through July 31. Inquiries are being accepted by e-mail at fatherofinvention2009@gmail.com

The second season of the September Films A&E reality television series The Exterminators starring Billy Bretherton is shooting in the Shreveport area through the end of August. Inquiries are being accepted by e-mail at vexcon@bellsouth.net.

The Disney Channel children’s television series The Imagination Movers is shooting in Jefferson Parish through September 17. Resumes and inquiries are being accepted by e-mail at. imnola504@gmail.com

The Most Wanted Films feature film Death House is shooting in Baton Rouge through August 15. Inquiries are being accepted by e-mail at info@mostwantedfilms.com.

And for more information about the film and television industry in Louisiana please visit us online at www.louisianaentertainment.gov

'Streets of Blood,' on DVD July 28, is a flimsy excuse to wallow in post-Katrina violence

From The Times-Picayune

by Michael H. Kleinschrodt, DVD columnist, The Times-Picayune

It's a bad week for police detectives on DVD shelves.
Not only is Harvey Keitel's "Bad Lieutenant" being re-released, July 28 also brings the direct-to-DVD debut of "Streets of Blood." Both hyperviolent films feature cops as crooked as the criminals, and neither has a compelling narrative.
"Streets of Blood," filmed predominantly in Shreveport in 2008, is set in New Orleans six months after Hurricane Katrina.

For more, click here.

Film includes Yes Men's post-Katrina pranks in New Orleans

From The Times-Picayune

by Dave Walker, TV columnist, The Times-Picayune

Anyone familiar with The Yes Men's act by now should know that "Oh, no!" is the only appropriate reaction to their arrival on any scene.
That, and running for the nearest exit.
Especially if you're a public figure. Extra-especially if you're a corporate chieftain or the underling charged with protecting him or her (but usually it's a him).

***

In the film, The Yes Men say that they make their entree into spoofy situations by posting fake Web sites and then waiting for conference organizers to invite them to speak.

That doesn't appear to be how they got to a 2006 conference in New Orleans, where their act fooled Mayor Ray Nagin, then-Gov. Kathleen Blanco and a big room full of rebuilding contractors.

They came then as subs for Alphonso Jackson, who was then secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and a key player in New Orleans' recovery.

The Yes Men's fake announcement at the gathering reversed HUD's actual policy at the time and reopened the city's public housing developments to residents. Also announced was a multibillion-dollar effort by oil companies to fund the rebuilding of Louisiana's coastal wetlands.

Reporters in the room -- WWL-radio's Dave Cohen is pictured as most forceful in debunking The Yes Men trickery -- weren't fooled, but the damage was done.

And kept getting done later at another Yes Men-staged event at one of the city's shuttered public housing developments.

OK, so the wetlands situation deserves all the attention it can get, and the film might be helpful to anyone in HBO's national audience who is new to the issue.

The debate over public housing in New Orleans is lot more complicated than it's depicted in this film, though, and satire, however sharply composed, doesn't ever really fix very much.

The Yes Men Fix the World Today, 8 p.m., HBO

For more, click here.

Saban returns to LSU days for movie

From The Shreveport Times.

HOOVER, Ala. - Alabama coach Nick Saban talked about the movies at the Southeastern Conference Media Days here at the Wynfrey Hotel.

Saban will portray himself when he was LSU's coach in 2004 and recruiting offensive tackle Michael Oher out of Memphis in the movie "The Blind Side," which will be released in November.

Asked if Alabama people will be upset by his return to purple and gold in the movie, Saban said, "I'm hopeful all of our fans will understand that the movie is an historical event. When this happened and it occurred, that was the part of history where I was."

Saban did say that his players are not interested in the film.

"Our team has already voted not to go see the movie," he said.

Oher, the subject of a book called "The Blind Side, Evolution of a Game" in 2006, chose Ole Miss over LSU and many other schools after Saban left to coach the Miami Dolphins. Oher was a first round pick in the NFL Draft this summer by the Baltimore Ravens. Saban's recruiting visit to Oher was a memorable part of the book and is recreated in the movie. Another scene has him in his office wearing LSU clothes with the 2001 SEC championship trophy.

Oher grew up poor and mostly void of any parental influence. He attended 11 schools in nine years before being brought in by a family in Memphis, and his life turned around.

"I think it's a great example to college football and college football players," Saban said. "I think it's a wonderful story. It's an historical event. It's no disrespect to anyone. We have special memories of the times and things we accomplished at LSU. Nothing that can ever happen is gong to change that. We have a tremendous amount of respect for our fans at the University of Alabama."

Saban said he learned an appreciation for the movie making process.

"It's not the takes that get you," he said. "It's the angles. You have to do seven takes because there has to be a wide angle. Then there has to be a close-up on every person."

Saban said director John Lee Hancock (The Rookie in 2002) let him have a say.

"The director was great," he said. "I would say, 'I wouldn't really say it that way. I would say it this way.' And he said, 'Say it however you wanted it.' That made it easier. I had a very small part."

NCLAC, Lincoln library team up for 'Oz' screening

From The Monroe News Star

Take a trip down the Yellow Brick Road at 6 p.m. Thursday when the North Central Louisiana Arts Council (NCLAC) and the Lincoln Parish Library will co-host a free showing of the classic musical fantasy "The Wizard of Oz."

The screening will be in the library meeting room and is part of their Art of Film series.

Moviegoers are invited to come as their favorite character and be in a costume contest. There will be popcorn, other treats and movie trivia.

"The Wizard of Oz" has been called the first truly American fairytale and gained popularity from 1959 to 1991 when it was shown annually on television. It has since become one of the most beloved films of all time and often ranks among the top 10 best movies of all time in various critics' and popular polls.

In addition, its signature song, "Over the Rainbow," sung by Judy Garland, who plays Dorothy, has been voted the greatest movie song of all time by the American Film Institute. Upon its release in 1939, "The Wizard of Oz" was nominated for several Academy Awards, including best picture, best visual effects and best song. The film is famous for its innovative mixing of Technicolor, sepia and black and white.

Begun in 2007, the Art of Film is a free, monthly film series that features notable movie classics in all genres.

What: "The Wizard of Oz"
When: 6 p.m. Thursday
Where: Lincoln Parish Library
Cost: Free
Info: (318) 513-6411 or (318) 255-1450.

Library to host discussion of 'American Experience: New Orleans'

From The Baton Rouge Advocate.

The East Baton Rouge Parish Library and Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB) are hosting an open discussion about New Orleans.

The event will be at the Main Library, 7711 Goodwood Blvd., at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 29, and will coincide with the re-airing of American Experience: New Orleans at 5 p.m. today, July 26, on LPB.

The public is invited to watch the special and then attend the program at the library. Mark L. Thompson will lead a discussion on the program which will include viewer evaluations of how well the televised program presented New Orleans past and present.
For more information, call (225) 231-3745.

Sci-Fi movie to be shot in Baton Rouge

According to the Baton Rouge Advocate, the sci-fi movie "Battle: Los Angeles" will begin filming in Baton Rouge this fall. The movie, by Columbia Pictures, is about a platoon of Marines fighting alien invaders on the streets of Los Angeles. Aaron Eckhart (Thank You For Smoking, The Dark Knight) will star as a Marine platoon commander. Johnathan Liebesman ("The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning") is set to direct. The production will be based at Raleigh Studios at the Celtic Media Centre in Baton Rouge.

Executive Producer Jeffrey Chernov said “Battle: Los Angeles” will involve an attempt by aliens to tap Earth’s water supply. The film style will be reminiscent of “Saving Private Ryan,” he said, with a U.S. Marine platoon going behind alien lines to foil the attempt. The project should average 150 to 200 jobs during filming, with up to 1,500 extras and 25 acting parts available for locals, Chernov said. Several weeks of the filming will take place in Shreveport to take advantage of a closed freeway ramp, he said, but most activity will be centered in Baton Rouge.

The film is based upon a sighting of one or more unidentified flying objects which took place from late February 24 to early February 25, 1942 in which eyewitness reports of an unknown object or objects over Los Angeles, California, triggered a massive anti-aircraft artillery barrage. The Los Angeles incident occurred less than three months after America's entry into World War II as a result of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The incident was part of the inspiration for Steven Spielberg's 1941. Information on this incident is available here.

Interested crew members can fax resumes to the Baton Rouge office at (225) 330-6961. (No actor resumes.)

See the news report on the film here.