3 minute read
Louisiana in the Spotlight: Louisisana Film Trail Pass
LOUISIANA IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Sure, Hollywood is thousands of miles away, but like a siren’s song, Louisiana's natural beauty and enchantment draw it in for movie scene after scene. And while we may think New Orleans receives all the Hollywood attention with its historic French Quarter, streetcars and spooky cemeteries, the Northshore receives a fair share of that spot-
Maybe you’ve seen those strange signs marked with random letters and an arrow hastily taped to a road sign and thought to yourself, “Well, that’s an odd yard sale sign.” It turns out that those are directional cues to guide a film’s cast and crew to a nearby movie set.
It makes sense that films such as “Swamp Women” (1956) or “Legend of the Honey Island Swamp Monster” (2007) would be filmed here, but not all films shot on the Northshore are swamp centric. Some big films like “Dead Man Walking” (1995), “Eve’s Bayou” (1997), “The Green Lantern” (2011), “Beasts of the Southern Wild” (2012), “Green Book” (2018) and “Where the Crawdads Sing” (2022) all had scenes filmed on the Northshore.
Maybe you caught a glimpse of downtown Covington if you watched “The Highwaymen” (2019). Or, maybe you recognized Fairview-Riverside State Park if you saw “Troop Zero” (2019).
The Louisiana Office of Tourism has a new fun way for you to visit filming locations across the entire state. By visiting their website, you can see a list of movies filmed in Louisiana and sign up for a Louisiana Film Trail Pass.
Just follow the instructions, and you can easily save the pass on your mobile phone’s home screen; there’s no need to download an app. When you visit a location connected to a film on their list, you check in on the pass and earn points. Locations will continue to be added.
Did I mention there are prizes? The points you earn build toward prizes such as a “Walk of Fame” ornament, a “gold” statuette, a film clapboard and a director’s megaphone.
The real prize is exploring the locations and feeling a deeper connection to the films we love. We don’t treasure these places more because they’ve been immortalized in film. We love that we get to share them with others, if only for a cinematic moment.
