Scene Magazine June/July 2012 by Scene Magazine

IN PLAIN SIGHT’S

RACHEL BOSTON

OBLIVION’S

DUNCAN HENDERSON BEFORE THE SCENE WITH

TERRY CREWS

FESTIVAL FASHION

BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD’S

QUVENZHANÉ

WALLIS

PLUS DIRECTOR

BENH ZEITLIN

Proud to hydrate both on and off the red carpet.

VOL. 3, ISSUE 4 | June/July 2012 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Micah Haley CREATIVE DIRECTOR Erin Theriot COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR Elizabeth Glauser EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS Jenny Bravo, Jon Vail, Alex Fraioli GRAPHIC ARTIST Burton Chatelain, Jr. DESIGN ASSISTANT Kandice Champagne, Ashton Shaw, Alanna Scurlock DIRECTOR OF SALES Gene Jones

EDITOR’S LETTER

he gangbusters success of The Avengers has kickstarted the summer box office season, and Louisiana has become a huge part of getting many of the summer’s biggest movies made. Universal’s Baton Rouge-shot tentpole pic Battleship is still in theaters now and I’m eagerly awaiting the release of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Not only do these honestly look like they are going to be a great summer night at the movies, but there’s something tangible, something great about seeing my friends’ names listed in the credits at the end. And I’m not the only one waiting to see them! On a night when the theater is packed, there will be ten or fifteen other people sitting through the credits looking for familiar names. It’s a simple testament to the widespread impact of entertainment on Louisiana. Premiering in Louisiana at the end of June,

8 | June/July 2012

Beasts of the Southern Wild is, unequivocally, one of the best movies I’ve seen in ten years. We were planning on putting another, more established actor on the cover until I saw a press screening of the film. I was absolutely blown away. We immediately reached out to producers Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey and Josh Penn to see if we could get the movie’s talented young starlet on our cover. Luckily, we caught her right before she jet set for the film’s premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in France. Though Beasts may be labeled a “Katrina film,” it truly transcends its simple setting on the Gulf Coast. The filmmakers at Court 13 successfully spin a universal tale of abiding love. Go see it.

SALES Brinkley Maginnis, Sean Beauvais FASHION STYLIST Anthony Ryan Auld COVER PHOTO BY Teddy Smith CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Teddy Smith, Jess Pinkham, Eliot Brasseaux, Cathy Kanavy, Caitlin Barry, Eliza Morse, Frank Masi, Michael Buckner, Alicia Antoinette, Jason Kruppa, Stephen Vaughan, Liz Achee, Jaime Trueblood, Skip Bolen, Murray Close, Phil Bray, Kerry Brown, Cliff Lipson, Scott Garfield, Patrick Hoelck, Christian Lantry, Keith Major, Glynis Selina Arban, Fred Hayes CONTRIBUTING WRITERS AJ Buckley, James Napper, III, Andi Eaton, Jenny Bravo, Elizabeth Glauser, Alex Fraioli, Jacob Peterman, Susan Ross Scene Magazine At Raleigh Studios Baton Rouge 10000 Celtic Drive • Suite 201 • Baton Rouge, LA 70809 225-361-0701 At Second Line Stages 800 Richard St. • Suite 222 • New Orleans, LA 70130 504-224-2221 info@scenelouisiana.com • www.scenelouisiana.com Published By Louisiana Entertainment Publishers LLC CEO, Andre Champagne President, AJ Buckley Vice President, Micah Haley Controller, Jessica Dufrene Display Advertising: Call Scene Magazine for a current rate card or visit www.scenelouisiana.com All submitted materials become the property of Louisiana Entertainment Publishers LLC. For subscriptions or more information visit our website www.scenelouisiana.com

MICAH HALEY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

editor@scenelouisiana.com

Copyright @ 2011 Louisiana Entertainment Publishers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used for solicitation or copied by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording by any information storage or retrieval system, without the express written permission of the publisher.

CONTENTS ON THE COVER

Quvenzhané Wallis

10 | June/July 2012

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SCENE ON THE HUNGER GAMES Polarizing young ladies all over the world as Gale Hawthorne in The Hunger Games, LIAM HEMSWORTH gave Team Peeta supporters second thoughts. The Aussie actor escapes the love triangle to plan the robbery of an armored car in Empire State, filming in New Orleans this summer.

Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne photo by Murray Close

Emma Watson as Hermione Granger photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 2 After graduating from the Harry Potter franchise in the fall, EMMA WATSON has taken post-Potter roles in My Week with Marilyn and The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Her latest film, the apocalyptic party comedy, The End of the World, brings her to New Orleans to play the role of a lifetime- herself.

THE BORGIAS Emma Roberts as Jill Roberts photo by Phil Bray

SCREAM 4 EMMA ROBERTS fended off Ghostface in last year’s Scream 4, becoming part of the hugely successful slasher franchise. The twenty-one-yearold will head to New Orleans to film with another of Hollywood’s young elite, Liam Hemsworth, as a pair of childhood friends planning a robbery in Empire State.

Jeremy Irons as Rodrigo Borgia photo courtesy of Showtime

The rise of Rodrigo Borgia to Pope Alexander VI is chronicled in the Showtime series The Borgias with Academy Award winner JEREMY IRONS playing the infamous papal patriarch of the Borgia clan. In Irons’ next feature role, he’ll go from infamous crime families to a town of cursed ones. Beautiful Creatures has Irons playing Macon Ravenwood, the reclusive uncle to the new girl in town. The fantasy film is currently in production in New Orleans.

MORE SCENE ON 12 | June/July 2012

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SCENE ON SHAMELESS Showtime’s dramedy series Shameless features the Gallagher family and all of their lovable dysfunction as they find creative ways to get by in Chicago. The oldest of the Gallagher brood is Fiona, played by EMMY ROSSUM. Her role in Beautiful Creatures has brought Rossum out of the cold Chicago scenery and into the beauty of the bayou while the fantasy flick based on the best-selling book shoots in Louisiana now.

Emmy Rossum as Fiona Gallagher photo by Cliff Lipson/Showtime

Rihanna as Cora Raikes photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

BATTLESHIP Barbadian beauty RIHANNA made her acting debut in this summer’s Battleship, which brought the songstress to Baton Rouge for filming. The “Umbrella” singer returns to the Bayou State for a more comedic role in Seth Rogen’s directorial debut, The End of the World, now filming in New Orleans.

21 JUMP

STREET

Revamping the 80s TV series 21 Jump Street proved successful for funnyman JONAH HILL, whose hilarious turn as Officer Schmidt brought the actor to New Orleans. He returns again with his crew of comedic counterparts Jason Segel, Seth Rogen, James Franco and Jay Baruchel for The End of the World.

Michael Fassbender as David photo by Kerry Brown

PROMETHEUS The mysterious and highly anticipated Ridley Scott film Prometheus has MICHAEL FASSBENDER playing android David in a futuristic sci-fi space quest for humanity’s origin. Fassbender’s next venture will take him back to earth and back in time to 1800s New York in Twelve Years a Slave, filming in New Orleans this summer.

14 | June/July 2012

Jonah Hill as Schmidt photo by Scott Garfield

BEHIND THE

SCENES S

SYFY’S AMERICAN HORROR HOUSE

Directed by Darin Scott and produced by Griff Furst, Daniel Lewis and Ken Badish, American Horror House is the latest bit of cinematic mischief from Active Entertainment. Set in a Southern sorority house, the Syfy original horror film stars Alessandra Torresani, Morgan Fairchild and a host of local faces, including Dave Davis, Ashton Leigh, Jackie Tuttle and Salina Duplessis. photos by Eliot Brasseaux Alessandra Torresani

DAVE DAVIS

“ This is the second time I’ve worked with Tom

[Calloway]. Tom is brilliant. He moves so fast and he does so many things simultaneously and I mean he is a one-man cinematography machine.

”

Dave Davis as Lloyd

“ I’m very thankful to the Syfy channel for giving me three opportunities back to back to have some fun.”

Jackie Tuttle and Ashton Leigh

MORE BEHIND THE SCENES 16 | June/July 2012

FILM |

SYFY’S AMERICAN HORROR HOUSE

Morgan Fairchild

ALESSANDRA TORRESANI

“ We say ‘frack’ a lot. I said it like as an ode to all my old Caprica fans.” “ Tom and Darin are quite the combination of goodness. They’re yummy goodness gumdrops.”

Alessandra Torresani

18 | June/July 2012

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by AJ Buckley

Before the Scene is where we all start. In a small town with our families. In front of a mirror with our friends. The days spent sleeping on a couch. The nights working at a bar. Living with the unknown and surrounded by uncertainty. It’s about the times that define us. It’s about the darkness just before the limelight.

TERRY CREWS Terry Crews is an American actor and comedian from Detroit, Michigan perhaps best known for his roles in White Chicks, Bridesmaids, The Expendables and in TBS’s Are We There Yet? He can next be seen reprising his role as Hale Caesar in The Expendables 2.

What made you want to become an actor? I have always been an artist. As a kid, my claim to fame was my art talent, and I would get awards for pictures and paintings and comics that I wrote and drew. I always knew I wanted to use it in the film industry. I had a big, big desire to somehow be involved with film. That’s where I got my morals from, it’s where I got my focus on life, and it just affected me to the point where the first time I saw Star Wars or I saw The Thing, and I thought I was going to be a special effects artist. I went to an arts academy to study art, but it just wasn’t going to pay all my way. I was from Flint, Michigan and I didn’t have a lot of money. I knew football was going to be my way to get a scholarship. Then I went pro, and a friend of mine who played with me at the Rams, he was an artist also from Detroit. We were both like two art-drawing football players. And we decided, let’s just make a movie. We went to Detroit and shot this movie - it was called Young Boys Incorporated - and it was horrible! I mean, like, just a terrible movie. We got kicked out of locations, people didn’t show up, it was just a mangled mess, and I loved every second. I said, “This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.” I told my wife when I met her, that I was going to play in the NFL, then we were going to move to L.A., and we were going to make movies. She was like, “Alright, let’s do it.” So when it was time to retire she was like, “Hey, you remember you said you wanted to move to L.A.? Let’s go!” And I’m like, “You’re right. It’s time.” Well, we went out to L.A. We went broke. We didn’t find any investors [to finish my film]. Then I ended up doing security for the motion picture industry. I also had another job as a bouncer, and a friend of mine invited me to an audition - he was a police officer who had been working with Billy Blanks, a consultant on a show called Battledome, which was an extreme sports American Gladiator-type show. And he said, “They’re looking for warriors for the show in Venice Beach, so why don’t you come on through?” I had been told, “Man, you should try acting. You have a good look.” And I was like, “Nah, I’m a filmmaker.” You know, “I’m a creator.” So my wife told me, “You know what? You should try it. Go on down.” And I blew it away. Then, I didn’t hear anything for like six months. I get a callback: “Hey man. We’re still doing this show. You did a great job six months ago.” We were really struggling trying to hold on, trying to make it, pay the bills every week. And I was so hungry, man, I would do anything. We need a breakthrough here cause nothing else is happening. And I painted my face like Darth Maul and went and got this crazy outfit. “I’m going all out.” I’m like, “If I’m not going to get it, it won’t be for lack of effort.” Then they said, “Congratulations. You are one of our warriors. You are now on the show.” It was to the point where I had nothing else. I said, “I got to go for this because I got to feed my kids.” I had two daughters, and one was on the way at the time. My wife was pregnant with my third daughter. We have five kids now. It was a breakthrough that I’ll never forget, man. And, lo and behold, I became an actor, and I’ve been acting ever since. 22 | June/July 2012

What was your biggest fear? My biggest fear, totally, was the fact that I did not know what I was doing. And I was scared that people would find out. I was petrified. We were down at the L.A. Sports Arena, and it was packed with kids and people screaming. I remember right before the doors would open and the warriors would come out, I would have these panic attacks. These little, small panic attacks. “You can’t do it. You’re in the wrong business. You are a fool. You don’t know what you’re doing.” People were getting hurt. It was a lot of crazy, crazy games that you could really injure yourself in. I’m like, “I could get killed out here.” But what I would tell myself was, “What else do you have? Are you going to go back to security? What are you going to do?”

What kept you from walking away? Just the fact that it was more money than I had ever seen! We could actually eat! It was to the point where we would buy flour, spaghetti sauce and a block of cheese, and make pizza. We didn’t have $7.99 to go to Little Caesar’s and grab one. And then it was like, “Wow, I’m getting $2500 a week.” Just looking at my kids as they ate a meal. I said, “I got to do this.” There is no “not doing it.” You don’t have a choice, man.

What did you walk away from? I had to give up that “creator” dream. I came in there to be this writer/ director and became an actor. I felt like that was a total shift. I had to give up being considered that type of person. Because mostly you want to be considered a creative type, and as soon as you hit that actor mode, they’re like, “Ooook, you’re an actor.” And they don’t really respect you a lot of times above the line. I had to give up that artist moniker.

Who was your closest ally? My wife. My wife. We were about a year and a half in, and she said, “Honey, how long will we keep going for this? If, it’s not working, how long will we continue to go before we realize we need to do something else?” I said, “We’re never quitting. We’re never stopping.” I said, “I’ll be a janitor for twenty, thirty, forty years. If it happens when I’m ninety, then we’ll be fine.” She looked at me and she said, “I’m with it. That’s all you had to say.” That’s my ally!

What were you doing the morning before the audition that changed your life? I had two on the same day. One was for a series regular on My Wife and Kids with Damon Wayans, and then the next was with Keenan Ivory Wayans for White Chicks. And I bombed the first so bad. I’ll never forget it. I went in for Wife and Kids. And it was a series regular. I was just so nervous. Something was off, man. I just saw eyes and judgment. A big table full of people, and I just couldn’t get it together, man. My voice was cracking. It was wrong, like I had never done it before. But then I drove right over to the Keenan Ivory Wayans audition for White Chicks. It was like everything just clicked. It was the total opposite of that morning. Keenan was rolling, and the casting agent was rolling. Sure enough, they told me I didn’t get Wife and Kids and I was crushed. But one week later, they were like, “You got White Chicks.” And that was a whole other deal, man. That took me from big, bad brute guy into the comedy realm that solidified me in comedy.

I’m honest about who I am.... You have to decide who you’re going to be. And the moment you do, you gotta fight for it.

What were the words that kept you going? There was a book that I used to hold, and it was called Let Go of Whatever Makes You Stop. That was the name of the book. It was a cheap little grocery store book, just a motivational book. And it had these little sayings, like, “Don’t ask why, ask why not.” It was like, just keep going. And I would pull that book out, man. And I had a lot of tapes at the time — cassette tapes, that’s how old I am — of different pastors in my life that were very motivational. One pastor said, “Hey man, every situation is subject to change.” So, as bad as anything looks, all is subject to change. I was like, “Wow, you’re right, you’re right.” My wife and I would always just pray together. We’ve been married twenty-three years, and there’s no way I could imagine doing this by myself. I have gone infinitely farther with her than I ever could have gone by myself.

How have you changed? A lot of times, as an actor, when you start out, you are doing things for other people. And where I’ve changed is that I started to do things for me. In becoming a whole person. Becoming a person that, I’m honest about my performances. I’m honest about who I am. There are certain roles that I would not do now that I would have done readily in the beginning, even if I didn’t agree with it. You have to decide who you’re going to be. And the moment you do, you gotta fight for it.

What words do you have to inspire others? Watch your habits. This is talking to young actors, and every person in any business, anything you’re doing. There’s a compound effect. And I discovered that when I was off track, it started way back with the little things. Always keep an eye on your habits. You can have good ones, you can have bad ones. Keep the good ones, but always get rid of the bad ones, and you know what they are. S

BEFORE THE SCENE

TERRY CREWS

A partner in Scene Magazine and the president of Louisiana Entertainment Publishers, AJ has starred for the last seven years as Adam Ross on the hit TV show CSI:NY, now on Friday nights at 9pm. Originally from Dublin and raised in Vancouver, he has spent the past twelve years in Los Angeles acting, writing and directing. He is currently in pre-production in Louisiana on North of Hell, in which he will star and produce. Find out more on Twitter at @AJohnBuckley and at www.ajbuckley.net. www.scenelouisiana.com | 23

STATE OF THE ARTIST

SPIRITUAL SON DIRECTOR BENH ZEITLIN

ON BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD by Micah Haley

Quvenzhané Wallis in Beasts of the Southern Wild

photo by Jess Pinkham

he word hurricane is never heard. But friends, ready mountain. Just kind of grasping, trying to find a way to survive it.” After the short was made, it was time for the young director to return yourself: every frame of director Benh Zeitlin’s home. “I had this feeling of like, ‘Ok, I was supposed to go home, and Beasts of the Southern Wild will call out your name. I’m not. I’m gonna stay.’” In a city A native of New York, Zeitlin still very much in recovery, Zeitlin came to New Orleans after the remembers reflecting on why he storm to make a short film. “I felt drawn to stay. “I was just trying was trying to make Glory at Sea to figure out why I wanted to stay in Europe. I was planning on so badly. Our cast members from making it off a Greek island or Glory were staunchly here and something crazy like that. I sort not going anywhere. I wanted of had the basics of a story about to understand that and also a man who was in love with a communicate that to the world, woman who was alive at the which was very aggressively, at bottom of the water,” says Zeitlin. that time, asking, ‘Why would “I was talking to my friends who you rebuild here? Why don’t you were in the city at the time - that move somewhere else? It’s too was like 2005, early 2006 – and I dangerous. Why risk it? Just go just suddenly realized this could somewhere safer.’ That sort of really resonate in New Orleans. Benh Zeitlin accepting the Grand Jury Prize at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival thing, which was in the air at the And I just started to try it out, photo by Fred Hayes time, really got under my skin.” sleeping on couches and the way “I wanted people to understand why you stay. Why that’s important. that film started to get rolling is what really made me realize that New Orleans was the place that I needed to be working.” And why this place has something that doesn’t exist anywhere else “Glory was the first live action film I had ever made. No one on and that can’t be recreated,” says Zeitlin about his thoughts before the crew had ever done anything professionally,” Zeitlin recalls. writing Beasts. “I was thinking about that and wanting to do a story “We really invented it on the fly, tumbling high speed down a about hold-outs. It comes a lot from cast members from Glory. 24 | June/July 2012

STATE OF THE ARTIST ON LIVING IN NEW ORLEANS AFTER HURRICANE KATRINA:

I wanted people to understand why you stay. Why that’s important. And why this place has something that doesn’t exist anywhere else and that can’t be recreated. Hearing their stories was a major inspiration. And then it sort of crossstreams with co-writer Lucy Alibar’s play, Juicy and Delicious, which is not set in New Orleans. At a certain point, I realized there was this connection between a theme - a community fighting to stand by its extremely dysfunctional place - and a little girl fighting to stand by her extremely dysfunctional father. Both the place and the father are sick and dying, and you have to figure out how to stand by them and do the right thing when there’s this inevitable tragedy looming over you.” From the overflow of Glory at Sea, Zeitlin had found his story. He also found an angel financier in Cinereach. “They basically saw Glory at Sea, found me, and were like, ‘What do you want to do?’ They’re an incredible company. They’re nonprofit and don’t have any financial mandate to cast stars. They were on board with the crazy, risky choices that we wanted to make at every turn.” “We originally intended for this film to use a couple of professional actors. It got down to two people for the role of the father. One was a professional actor from New York, and the other was Dwight Henry from [a bakery called] The Buttermilk Drop,” says Zeitlin. “We just felt in our gut it was him. Dwight was so raw, he was untrained, but you just feel like this is the guy. Like there’s something in his life that he’s going to be able to express that no actor could ever possibly recreate. And Cinereach was like, ‘Choose the baker. Don’t choose the actor. Choose the baker.’” The role of Wink went to a baker that the Court 13 collective saw at lunch every day, but finding the film’s pint-sized protagonist proved to be more harrowing. “We did a massive casting search. We looked at somewhere between three and four thousand kids across the state,” recalls Zeitlin. The choice was Houma native Quvenzhané Wallis. “When she came in, she really transformed our entire conception of what the film could be, and what this character could be,” says Zeitlin. “The film used to be much more of a comedy, actually. There were some things written to be sort of cute about, because you’re imagining making a film with a six-year-old. As you’re reading, you’re like, ‘Ok, it’s gonna be a child actor, it’s gotta have this certain lead that you have to go on to experience a child actor performance.’ And then, when she came in and started reading these scenes, it was like, ‘We can actually go directly at the issues of this film and not kind of dance around them in a cute way. We can actually go right at this.’ Because it was so clear that she has this ability and this emotion in her, in her eyes and her delivery, and just the way that she is as a person. She was going to be able to bring realism to [difficult moments]. [One particular] scene used to be played in this sort of cute way. And it was like, ‘We don’t have to make this cute. We actually have a six-year-old actress.’ Which was just miraculous. She’s a truly miraculous little hero.” While a straight line can be drawn between the hurricane and the narrative husk of Beasts, Zeitlin and the filmmakers at Court 13 have made something much greater than the paltry sum of its amateur actors and ramshackle parts. For those who have grown 26 | June/July 2012

Director Benh Zeitlin

photo by Fred Hayes

up in Louisiana, the film is almost indistinguishable from memory, reveling in a realism that is at first off-putting. The poverty portrayed is extreme. The culture portrayed may embarrass. Though steeped in pain that will leave local audiences teeming with pathos, Beasts of the Southern Wild succeeds in earnestly telling a hero’s tale. “People who write these things in other places come down here, and they have a preconceived notion about what they’re gonna do. Certainly, if I had just shot the script I wrote, it probably would have come off as disingenuous or inaccurate or all those things that sort of make you squirm,” says Zeitlin when asked about the many attempts to define Hurricane Katrina on film. “Dwight, who plays Wink, he lived through the storm and he has this incredible story of holding out. I would read him the scenes, and he would tell me whether or not they were true. You know what I mean? And I would respect his knowledge about it more. He taught me about that. And I think that’s what’s hard. I think the way that we make these films in this grassroots way, this chaotic way, allows us to react to reality. To take real experiences and real people and actually get the essence of them to the screen, because the way the film is made is incredibly humbled to the reality of the place where we’re working, and the people who are in the film, and the circumstances that we’re talking about. I credit the city, and the bayou where we shot for being such a welcoming place. It’s embraced me in such a moving way. Being a total outsider, it’s like the place taught me how to express it right, and I credit it for actually being open enough to allow me to come in, and find a way to speak to it.” Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, Beasts of the Southern Wild premieres in New Orleans this July 4th. S

FILM |

RACHEL BOSTON IS IN PLAIN SIGHT by Jenny Bravo

Rachel Boston as Abigail Chaffee in In Plain Sight

achel Boston stands with bound hands on a rickety diving board, falls slowly towards a potentially empty pool, and screams. In the new thriller Blind Turn, Boston inhabits the role of both victim and assailant. “I play a woman named Samantha Holt, and it’s an incredibly intense journey as she struggles to forgive herself for her past. She had everything going for her, and this bright future, and then she was in a car accident. It was a family, and the father of the family survived. And so for a year, I’ve been just struggling to let go of these chains and to forgive myself, to make sense of what happened that night,” Boston explains. “It’s a woman and her journey to let go of the past.” When the bereaved father returns for revenge, Boston turns from promising golden child to a wheel-chaired, spoon-fed hostage. The tense Blind Turn brought the Tennessean even further down south to Shreveport, Louisiana to pursue her most demanding film yet. Perhaps most comfortable in comedic settings, the 1999 Miss Teen USA took a risk with the new genre, and Louisiana was the prime place to do it. “Robert Orr sent me the script, and it came 28 | June/July 2012

photo courtesy of Cathy Kanavy/USA Network/NBCU

to me at a really beautiful time. I was actually in a church. I’d been sitting in church reading this book called Blind Trust. My friend had given me this book, and I opened to a chapter and it said, ‘Go home, and I will give you what you need,’” Boston says. “I closed the book and drove home, and I got the offer for Blind Turn. And I’m like, alright well, God has obviously put this script into my hands.” The role offered challenges new to her career. “It was tough showing up on set and realizing that I was going to let a character out that was very intimate and tucked away in my own soul,” she explains. “It was a very different role for me. But again, I was in church when I got the script, so I trusted it was where I was supposed to be.” Her stay in North Louisiana introduced her to the Red River, local actors and a new favorite health food store. Though similar to her hometown, the connection she found to Shreveport was a unique one. “It was a great place to film, and we shot a lot of nights just out in the countryside,” she says. “I loved waking up and walking on the Red River before work, clearing out anything that’s happened from the day before, and just getting ready for work. There was this

| FILM

BLIND TURN

STARRING RACHEL BOSTON AND JAY DEE WALTERS PHOTOS COURTESY OF JAY DEE WALTERS

www.scenelouisiana.com | 29

FILM |

ON FILMING IN SHREVEPORT:

Walking into a restaurant and having people hug you when you walk in... it was a very wonderful welcoming. amazing health food store on Youree Drive, the Sunshine Health Foods Café.” It’s easy to see why the young actress finds Louisiana familiar. “Just walking into a restaurant and having people hug you when you walk in, it was a very wonderful welcoming.” “The southern hospitality surrounding you with the crew was just fantastic. There’s definitely something about having that peace. You leave the city, you get into that quiet voice of whatever the person you’re portraying is going through, and it allows for a lot of freedom,” Boston tells Scene. “Then you have kindness surrounding you. You have the kindest crew that you could possibly imagine to just hold your hand through it all. So it’s a great place to film.” The actress worked closely with co-star Jay Dee Walters and director Robert Orr. The project also recruited and hired a number of local actors, including her on-screen mother, Mary Alfred Thoma. Earning her first big television role as Beth Mason, the demure army wife in NBC’s American Dreams, Boston just finished another season of the USA Network’s In Plain Sight. Filmed in Albuquerque, Boston’s character is Abigail Chaffee, a good-natured detective who typically meets with Mary McCormack’s characters over witnesses and frequent love interest to Frederick Weller. “USA has such amazing female leads. They have their own flaws, they have their own passions, and then you just see them work. They take care of their women beautifully at USA. They portray them in a really good light and create fantastic roles for women. It’s a great network to work for.” Detective work and hostage situations aside, Boston’s newest flick features her more romantic side. “I’m about to go off to Big Bear and film a beautiful romantic drama,” she says. “It’s the story of two people and their journey through love and illness and just being there for each other. I think I am drawn to romantic comedies and the stories of human connections and the exploration of love. That’s really what I like.” Her genuinely good spirit doesn’t end when the credits roll. Boston busies herself with charity work at Children’s Hospital and with the American Cancer Society, causes she is personally invested in. “My cousin Marshall has Ewing’s Sarcoma and we just did a fundraiser,” she says. “I’ve got to go back to Chattanooga, Tennessee and stay at my house on Signal Mountain where I grew up. He came down and we threw a fundraiser for him. He’s seventeen years old and just has an amazing story. His strength and survival, he does a lot of speaking in the Children’s Hospitals.” After another successful year, season four of In Plain Sight is available on DVD on June 5. S

30 | June/July 2012

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SCENE EXHIBITION

Scene Exhibition is a place of inspiration, where great works of visual art will be held on display: drawings, paintings, sculptures painstakingly crafted by hand, often seen only in private collections or tucked away in remote corners off the beaten path. Yet some of the greatest will be in plain sight, largely unnoticed by a world in constant motion.

THE JACKSON GALLERY by Elizabeth Glauser photos by Caitlin Barry

hose of us who work on the lot at Raleigh Studios at the Celtic Media Centre in Baton Rouge can attest to the facility’s firm security. Last year, with both Battleship and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn shooting a few yards away from Scene Magazine’s offices, security was tight. Equipped with a small army of guards on duty and the sound of fifty-caliber guns booming from within Stage 7, it could easily have been mistaken for a military installation. Each day, we arrived at work on a secure parking area just off the lot, donned our picture ID badges, and hopped in a shuttle van just to get to our desks. But once you’re inside, you might have a chance to view the Jackson Gallery. Created by John and Fairleigh Jackson, the art gallery opened its doors in April with pieces on display by six artists. “It was apparent that many of our film industry visitors had very few opportunities to get out and enjoy the Baton Rouge art scene,” says Fairleigh. “It made sense to create a way to bring the best of local visual art to them.” Fairleigh Jackson is herself an artist, who also serves as the campaign director for the Community Fund for the Arts. John Jackson runs Launch Media, a video production company that calls Raleigh Studios Baton Rouge home. His familiarity with the space gave him inspiration for the gallery’s placement. “The studio picked us... Or I should say the empty space did,” says John. “The foyer space in the Oak Tree Building was a perfect fit. The building is used for temporary office space for film productions, so it gets quite a bit of traffic.” Filming at the studio doesn’t stop with the seasons, as productions cycle in and out throughout the year. Likewise, the art will not remain at the gallery for long, with new pieces and artists coming in every three months. With a large number of studio productions choosing Baton Rouge, “the Jackson Gallery provides a place where film industry visitors can see some of the top talent in Louisiana’s capital area,” says John. In the process, local artists are exposed to an international audience of creative

32 | June/July 2012

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SCENE EXHIBITION

John and Fairleigh Jackson with artists currently featured at the Jackson Gallery

professionals. “The Celtic Media Centre is certainly one of the most creative work environments in the state of Louisiana,” says Patrick Mulhearn, director of studio operations at the Celtic Media Centre. “And the Jackson Gallery gives local artists an opportunity to display their work to creative people from all over the world, including some of the biggest names in show business.” Artwork on display is available for purchase or can be rented by productions to be used in filming. Those without access to the secure stages at Raleigh Studios don’t need to sneak in. Private viewings of the gallery are available by appointment only. Just email fairleigh@jacksongallerybr.com. S

Celtic Media Centre director of studio operations Patrick Mulhearn

34 | June/July 2012

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ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER

Benjamin Walker talks with director Timur Bekmambetov on set in New Orleans

photo by Stephen Vaughan

by Jenny Bravo

onest Abe had a fever, and the only cure was to kill the undead. Armed with a bloody axe, the sixteenth president discovers the existence of vampires when his mother is murdered at their bloodthirsty whim. Vowing vengeance against the creatures when he discovers their threat to conquer the United States one neck at a time, Lincoln wages war. From the pages of Lincolnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hidden diary, the movie explores the life of Abe from childhood to death, all the while revealing the vampire threat previously ignored by historians, which finally escalates

into the onset of the Civil War. From filmmakers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov, the image-driven film blends the historical and vampire genres in a dark dance led by actor Benjamin Walker, who was awarded the role of Lincoln over actors Nicolas Cage, Adrien Brody and Josh Lucas. Based on the novel of the same title, the film was written by novelist-turned-screenwriter, Seth Grahame-Smith. After winning a bidding war for the rights, 20th Century Fox filmed the period piece in New Orleans in March of 2011. More than a year later, the undead slaughter begins in 2D and 3D on June 22. S

MORE SCENE EXTRAS 36 | June/July 2012

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SCENE |

THE $50,000 LOUISIANA FILM PRIZE

by Elizabeth Glauser photos by Eliza Morse

hoot a short film, win $50,000. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the premise behind the Louisiana Film Prize, the first annual competition based in the Shreveport-Bossier City area aiming to spark creativity in the northern half of the Bayou State. The rules are simple: film a short in the Shreveport-Bossier City area and become eligible to win the huge cash prize. Submissions of rough cuts of each film are welcome until July 9. After that, twenty finalists will be given $500 and a chance to win the grand prize. Each of the twenty shorts chosen will debut at the Louisiana Film Prize Weekend, during the weekend of October 5-7. A panel of film industry judges will serve as half the vote for the winner, with the other half stemming from the audience. The prestigious panel will include Hank Stuever of the Washington Post, director/producer Jason Neulander, James Hibbard of Entertainment Weekly, Steven Beckman of the Cinetic Rights Movement, Pat Hazel of Sweetwood Productions and Academy Award winner Brandon Oldenberg of Moonbot Studios. The Film Prize is the brainchild of filmmaker Gregory Kallenberg, a member of the film community in the Shreveport-Bossier City area and northwest Louisiana.

40 | June/July 2012

Kallenberg moved from Austin to the area to make the film Haynesville, adopting Shreveport as home in the process. Those in the United States who are aware of Louisianaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s filmmaking boom are quick to pinpoint New Orleans as the center of all the action, but Northern Louisiana has its portion of

| SCENE

the movie market. Shreveport-Bossier has played host to many big budget productions and serves as home to the Academy Award-winning animation house Moonbot Studios. Some of the high profile films shot in the area include Battle: Los Angeles, The Mist, Drive Angry and Straw Dogs. In advance of the festival, Kallenberg and company have been holding meetings around the state, most recently in New Orleans at The 12 Bar. The team behind the Louisiana Film Prize is eager to help get these short films made, providing resources and information for budding filmmakers on their website. To access these resources, submit a film, or just get more information, visit www.lafilmprize.com. S

Producer Jacky Lee Morgan New Orleans Film Festival Executive Director Jolene Pinder

MORE SCENE EXTRAS www.scenelouisiana.com | 41

SCENE |

ABOUT TO POP: ARACHNOQUAKE PREMIERES ON SYFY by Jenny Bravo

irst, a string of earthquakes. Then, enter terrifying albino spiders. In the Syfy Network’s upcoming spider-sploitation movie Arachnoquake, New Orleans falls prey to a string of bad luck in the form of an earthquake that unleashes ancient spiders, which run bloodthirsty and rampant through the streets. The story follows the Lacrosse family, who are the only residents to realize that continuous earthquakes exposed Louisiana’s Natural Shale Gas deposits. Teaming up with the National Guard, the Lacrosse family battles for New Orleans’ safety against the firebreathing arachnids. The film’s leading stars include Growing Pains alum Tracey Gold, Terminator 2: Judgment Day’s Edward Furlong and all-grown-up Alfalfa, Bug Hall. Arachnoquake director Griff Furst

A terrible, horrible, no-good spider bite fills with pus

also directed last year’s Swamp Shark, the highest-rated Syfy Saturday Original Movie of 2011, working on both films while living

photo by Eliott Brasseaux

in Louisiana. The Active Entertainment project filmed last year and will premiere on the SyFy channel June 23. S

G.I. JOE: RETALIATION WAITS A YEAR by Jenny Bravo

or the sequel to Stephen Sommers’ G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra, director John Chu (Fast Five) elected to film in New Orleans, returning cast members Channing Tatum and Jonathan Pryce and adding new squad members Dwayne Johnson and Bruce Willis. With world leaders under the Cobra Commander’s control and bad guy Zartan playing president, the Joes launch a black operation labeled the ‘Second American Revolution,’ enlisting the retired Willis to lead. Action veteran Willis plays General Joe Colton, the original G.I. Joe, a valuable aid to the new squad. Branded as traitors by the fake president, the operatives must ally, outnumbered against the Cobra, who control a slew of armed warheads poised and ready around the world. The film promises great things, but after a strong marketing push leading up to the film’s June 29 release date, Paramount has decided to wait until March of 2013 before unleashing the Joes. In the meantime, the film will be upconverted to 3-D. S

Channing Tatum and Dwayne Johnson in G.I. Joe: Retaliation

photo by Jaimie Trueblood

MORE SCENE EXTRAS ON PAGE 54 42 | June/July 2012

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SCENE |

MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY GETS TWISTED IN KILLER JOE by Alex Fraioli

ased on the play by Tony Award and Pulitzer winner Tracy Letts, the New Orleans-shot film offers a peek into the life of Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a Texas officer who moonlights as a hitman. A young Chris (Emile Hirsh) finds himself indebted and at the mercy of drug lords collecting their payment. He soon realizes his only option is to eliminate his own mother for insurance money. Enter Joe Cooper. Young Chris’ financial problems perpetuate when he is unable to afford Joe’s services. His sister Dottie ( Juno Temple) becomes his settlement to Joe, which furthers the chaos.

The film will be released in its original, uncut version with an NC-17 rating. Despite appeals to lessen the rating, the final version of the film will remain unchanged. “We support the artistic integrity of our filmmakers,” says LD Entertainment’s David Dinerstein, who backs the decision not to modify graphic scenes and content. In McConaughey’s exclusive interview with Scene last spring, he commented on the explicit nature of the film. “The story’s just twisted,” describes McConaughey. “It’s outrageous stuff, man.” Killer Joe hits select theaters on July 27. S

Matthew McConaughey in New Orleans on Killer Joe photo by Skip Bolen

SO, ABOUT YOUR SISTER’S SISTER by Jenny Bravo

nown for her scantily scripted films, Seattle writer and director Lynn Shelton has added another success to her repertoire with her latest, fourth feature film Your Sister’s Sister. Starring Emily Blunt, Rosemarie DeWitt and Metairie native Mark Duplass, the film received rave reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival last year and again at Sundance this year. Lynn Shelton follows in her signature style of quiet, complicated reflection on life, setting the spotlight on two sisters and their relationship with the same man. Blunt and Duplass play old friends, and when his father dies suddenly, Blunt offers him a getaway to her family’s vacation home in the San Juan Islands off the Washington state coast. Arriving in the midst of grief, he finds that Blunt’s sister, played by DeWitt, is already occupying the place, also looking for escape after ending a long-term relationship with her partner. They find solace in each other and when Blunt drops in for consolation, the tension reaches a dramatic plateau. With a largely improvised script, the three leads shine in their roles, capturing the emotional distress with realism and beauty. The film opens in limited release on Friday, June 15. S

Mark Duplass, Emily Blunt and Rosemarie DeWitt in Your Sister’s Sister photo courtesy of IFC Films

MORE SCENE EXTRAS 44 | June/July 2012

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ABOVE THE LINE

QUVENZHANÉ WALLIS Stars in Beasts of the Southern Wild by Micah Haley photos by Teddy Smith

orking quietly outside of the mainstream, Court 13 and director Benh Zeitlin began to assemble their first feature-length film. Adapted from Lucy Alibar’s play Juicy and Delicious, Beasts of the Southern Wild is set on the Gulf Coast of South Louisiana. At the center of the story is Hushpuppy, the daughter of an impoverished man named Wink. An exhaustive search for the young girl who would embody Hushpuppy ended in the city of Houma with Louisiana native Quvenzhané Wallis. Her big screen debut at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival was lauded. In an early review, Variety proclaimed her “possessed of incredible poise and almost feral intensity.” The Hollywood Reporter remarked that “her tenacity and fortitude seem absolutely real, not posed or artificially induced.” And the New York Times said the film is “among the best films to play at the festival in two decades.”

A day before Quvenzhané traveled to France, where Beasts was selected to compete in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. I spoke with her at Second Line Stages in New Orleans on a rainy day. A day when we created our own sunlight.

46 | April/May 2012

ABOVE THE LINE

www.scenelouisiana.com | 47

ABOVE THE LINE MH: Where are you from? QW: I was in my mom’s stomach whenever we lived in Houma.

MH: That sounds like fun, but it was a lot of work, though. QW: Yes, a lot of work.

MH: You do such an amazing job as an actor. How did you learn to do it? Was it something you practiced? QW: I would always play with my friends in the street. Just play

MH: Because you’re in every frame of the movie. QW: Yes. Every single frame. Just not with the aurochs. Yuck!

school and stuff like that.

MH: How did you find out about this movie? Was there an audition? QW: Yeah, my mom’s friend called and said that they had an audition

at the library. I was five, but they were looking for like six- and sevenyear-olds. So, she just brought me there just to see if they’d let me do it, and we kept getting callback after callback and I finally got the part.

MH: Well, it sounds like you were up against some stiff competition. QW: Yeah, about four thousand other girls were trying to get the part. MH: Oh wow, that’s pretty amazing! Did you think that you were going to get it? QW: No. MH: How did you find out? Did they call you, or did they come visit you? QW: Yeah, they called back, and they said that I had the part. MH: What was your response? Did you jump up and down? QW: No, I was just like, “Ok,” then I got back on the computer. MH: After you were cast, I’m sure you started doing rehearsals. What was it like working with the director, Benh Zeitlin? QW: It was fun because whenever I would get mad or sad, he would have to take off his hat and hit me with it to make me angry.

MH: He would hit you? QW: Yes, with his hat. And it was a blue hat and he would hit me with it. I told him to do it, anyway.

MH: The script for a movie is so big. How did you learn all of the lines? QW: They had a car, and we would sit in the back. They had this

hump, and I would sit there, and then Benh and Mr. Henry, [who plays] Wink, would sit on the sides so I wouldn’t fall. And we would sit and read the lines while Benh would sit there and copy our mouths.

MH: You would say the words and he would imitate you? QW: Yeah, yeah! And if we would get it wrong, he would tell us what they were supposed to say. [Throughout the shoot] we would just go to the front, sit, chill, have a snack, and eat the snack while doing the lines.

48 | June/July 2012

For those who have yet to see the film, the aurochs are a mysterious, ancient beast introduced to Hushpuppy by a woman who has a tattoo on her leg of two humans fighting the giant creatures, reminiscent of cave etchings. “This here is an aurochs,” she says. “A fierce creature.”

MH: About the aurochs, did you know what they were when you first read about them? QW: No. I just thought they were a big pig. MH: So you didn’t really know what it was? How did they tell you what they were going to be? QW: They were picturing it, so they took a cardboard box, and they cut it, and they drew a picture of it, and everybody had a nice little break, you know. And they would draw it and have a visual of it, and then they would go find ‘em, and then they tamed ‘em.

MH: Can you tell me about the places where you filmed? Was it on the swamp? QW: It was near the swamp. It was down the bayou. MH: Had you been there before? QW: No, I don’t think so. But it was near Headquarters 13. It was a gas

station and we would work there. And they had like each office, and I guess we moved from out of there and nobody works there no more.

MH: Nobody works there anymore? QW: Yeah. They said that it was haunted. It was Lucy and Dan.

They’re from the movie and they produced some of it, and they said that they just heard noises and they couldn’t find each other.

MH: The movie was shooting not far from where you lived in Houma. Were you staying in a hotel or did you get to go home at night? QW: We’d go at 8:00 in the morning, have dinner, have lunch,

have all of that, and go back home. Everybody’s drudging through the door. Well my daddy was, wherever he went. And everybody’s drudging through the door, going to their room, and all you hear is, “Sigh.” Every room, it was just like a echo.

MH: Was it ever lonely on the movie without your friends? QW: I made so many new friends. Whenever I saw the other three

girls, they started coming outside. And they were like, “Come on, just play with us.” And then, we just started playing together.

MH: Tell me about your character, Hushpuppy. QW: Hushpuppy, she’s wild, as you can see in the movie. She is

ABOVE THE LINE

wild, she’s always in the forest. She’s always doing something she’s not supposed to be doing.

MH: Who is her dad? QW: My dad in the movie is Mr. Henry, who plays Wink. He’s

my father and he got sick, because I hit him in his chest and he was a piece of the world. And if only one piece of the world gets broken, everything gets broken. So, it made him sick because he’s part of the world. Everything breaks, and so does he.

MH: Do you feel like you’re a lot like Hushpuppy, or Hushpuppy’s very different than you?

QW: She’s just like me, except for only one thing: she doesn’t wear

pants. We’re alike because we both have animals, we both like nature, we both like exploring the world. And we’re different because she doesn’t wear pants, she has a lot of animals, I don’t have that much nature. And she gets to explore the world anytime she wants to.

MH: Why can she go explore anytime? QW: Her father just lets her. It’s pretty complicated how

their relationship is. Their relationship is very far apart. The father doesn’t like her living with him. So they both have separate houses because they don’t get along as well. www.scenelouisiana.com | 49

ABOVE THE LINE MH: It takes a long time to make a movie. How did you go to school at the same time? QW: We had a tutor. Her name is

MH: Tell me about going to Sundance. Did you know what Sundance was? QW: No, I just thought it was gonna

Hannah. Please don’t say Hannah have sun, and it was a dance for fans Montana! That’s what we called [of movies]. her Hannah Not-Montana, and we called her Hannah Banana. We MH: You went up to Utah had nicknames for her all the time. for the movie, and what did (Laughs) And she would be my people think of it? tutor, we would bring some books. QW: They thought it was a good We would work on some math, movie. reading, stuff like that. And the other little girls, Kaliana, Amber… MH: Were people asking you they would come too, and they Quvenzhané Wallis with Dwight Henry as Wink questions? would bring some games. And she photo by Jess Pinkham brought a game that nobody knew how to play. It’s called Slamwich. QW: They were asking me, “How did the aurochs come?” “How, how did you face up to them?” It was just like, “How? MH: Slamwich? How? What? What? This? That?” And that was just pretty hard QW: Yes. You make a sandwich, and if you get a double, to do. Because you have to think about some of the questions. or like a bread, cheese, bread, you had to slap it. And if you get a thief, you have to punch, or slap, whatever you want MH: I heard that after the first screening, everybody to say, slap the thief, and then you get to keep the thief. loved it.

MH: Where did you film the movie? What was it like? QW: It was the gas station, the trailer, and then there’s a road back, and it would have wild onions, and they would have my house back there. I think that’s where my house was.

MH: What did you think when you finished filming the movie? Were you glad that it was over? QW: No, I really wanted to stay. And whenever they said, “Wrap,” if I didn’t cover my ears, I would just start crying. So I had to cover my ears as hard as I could.

MH: What happened after the movie? Did you go back to your school? QW: Yeah, I missed the end of the year. And I’mma miss this end of the year. And they were planning a picnic, and I really want to go. But I’mma be in France.”

MH: Well that sounds better than a picnic! QW: Yes, and I’m glad. Hot, sunny days. Beaches, a lot of beaches. In the movie, Quvenzhané’s character lives in a place called “The Bathtub,” a watery swamp shantytown where residents live in ramshackle dwellings propped off the ground in an effort to stay out of the reach of floodwaters.

MH: Yes, a lot of beaches. We don’t have any beaches here. We have bathtubs here. QW: Yeah, bathtubs. And one lucky bathtub.

50 | June/July 2012

QW: Yeah, everybody was clapping. You would walk, and you

would just see everybody having tissues for every single tear that fall.

MH: Did you have people recognizing you outside of the screening? QW: Well, after the movie was done, people would be like, “Great job, great job. I loved it. I loved it.” And they had a vote, and everybody would come and say, “I loved it. I loved it.” And one person said, “I teared up.”

There was so much buzz after the first screening of Beasts that it overtook the festival. One person remarked to me that even a cab driver asked if he’d seen the film already. Because of such a strong reaction, there was an expectation in the air that the film would win several awards at the end of the festival.

MH: And then it won the biggest prize at Sundance. QW: Yes! MH: Was that unexpected? QW: Yes, very. And then the cameraman got a prize, too. So the movie got a prize, and the cameraman, oh, he got surprised! He ran up and was just surprised. He didn’t expect that to come.

MH: Did you expect it? QW: A little bit. It took a long time for them to call our name. I fell

asleep. They were calling each [award] and everyone would cross their fingers and stuff. And everybody was just like, “When are they gonna call us? When are they gonna call us?” Then I started thinking, “They’re never gonna call us. They’re never gonna

ABOVE THE LINE

Hushpuppy in the Bathtub

photo by Jess Pinkham www.scenelouisiana.com | 51

ABOVE THE LINE call us.” So I went to sleep. Then they called us, everybody started tapping me, I woke up and was like, “What? What? We won!” Her mother says she didn’t actually fall asleep, but her active mind had started to wander after sitting still for so long. The film didn’t win any of the awards announced early, so the waiting game began. The film’s first award went to Ben Richardson, who won for Excellence in Cinematography.

MH: Because the director’s name is “Ben” as well, you called Ben Richardson “Ben Ben,” right? QW: Yes. But then they have Ben Ben Ben, and then they have

Ben Ben Ben Ben. Then they have Ben Ben Ben Ben Ben, I think.

MH: They need to hire some guys named Steve next time. QW: Yeah, Steve. And then, Steve Steve! After it was announced that Beasts of the Southern Wild had won the Grand Jury Prize, the most prestigious awarded at the festival, Quvenzhané took the stage with all of the Court 13 filmmakers. Director Benh Zeitlin held her up to the microphone to offer the first word and she said, “I ain’t got nothing to say! That’s why I told you to talk to the mic!”

MH: What are you going to say next time? QW: “Thank you for all you did, and thank you for giving us this award.”

MH: If you have an agent, and a manager, you gotta thank them too. And you have to always thank Mom! QW: “Thank you mom, and thank you for everybody else who supported!”

MH: Down here in Louisiana, when we heard about it, everybody was so thrilled. It was a really big deal. QW: Yes, a very big, humongous deal. MH: After all of this is over, will you want to make another movie? Do you want to be an actress or is this a one-time thing for you? QW: Yes, I think I want to do it. MH: Are there any actors that you look up to? QW: Meagan Good and Henry, Dwight Henry. MH: But it sounds like you just kinda want to be your own person. QW: You always gotta be yourself. Cause if you don’t be yourself, you gonna get in some bad trouble. Bad trouble.

MH: What are some of your favorite memories from filming Beasts of the Southern Wild?

52 | June/July 2012

QW: Being able to see nature and what the world is like. And

trying to help the world and be healthy, ‘cause I’m normally not healthy. And reading. I never liked reading. I would just always put the books to the side and just have fun. And then, soon as I went there, they started influencing me to start reading.

MH: Are you a big reader now? What are you reading now? QW: Yes! Judy Moody, and I’m reading The Ugly Duckling. MH: What was the most surprising thing you learned about making movies? QW: That you always have to have lines. Always. Even if you’re

an extra. The extras would have to just yell, and concentrate, and watch. I would like to be a extra, but I like being the star.

MH: Being the star is a lot more fun. QW: Yeah, a lot more fun. You just get all the fun stuff! MH: Is there anything else you want to say to the people who are going to read this? QW: Thank you! Thank you for everybody who’s watching,

for everyone who voted, and thank you for watching and thanks for my family and whoever supported. And thanks Mr. John, and Miss Robin and Mr. Pat! And The Swelling Storm. Remember The Swelling Storm! I love you all! The Swelling Storm, a name that dovetails well with the film’s narrative, is a basketball team that Quvenzhané’s brother plays for in Houma. It is coached by former Saints player Patrick Swelling.

MH: Well, thank you so much for doing this interview with me. QW: You’re welcome. MH: You did an excellent job, I have to say. QW: Thank you! S

Beasts of the Southern Wild is a film about a Hushpuppy who lives in the Bathtub. Moreso, it’s about a girl who lives in her head and thinks with her heart. As a child should. The film will receive a premiere in New Orleans prior to its theatrical release in Los Angeles and New York at the end of June. It will open in theaters in New Orleans on July 4. After being shot and set in Louisiana, starring Louisiana locals, I can’t think of a film that deserves your support more than this one. For more, visit the film’s official website at www.beastsofthesouthernwild.com.

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HELP KICKSTART DOG MAN: THE DICK RUSSELL STORY by Jacob Peterman

ichie Adams needed three dogs. “I needed to find a Basset Hound, a dachshund and a dog that could retrieve,” he recalls. “This was for my first narrative feature, Inventing Adam.” The man who made it happen was Dick Russell, a Baton Rouge-based dog trainer. “A year after making the film, my wife and I adopted our dog, Charles, and we knew we had to put him into Dick’s six-week obedience course, because that’s just ‘what you do’ if you want your dog trained by the best in Baton Rouge. Dick trained us to train our dog. He was seventy-two years old at the time, stomping around the parking lot at Staring Lane, getting down on his hands and knees with the dogs, and I thought, ‘Someone’s gotta tell this man’s story.’” Though Dick Russell is well known in Baton Rouge, few know that he has pioneered dog training techniques that are now commonplace throughout the world. Fans of the Dog Whisperer show that stars Cesar Millan may remember his technique of training dogs in large groups to “socialize” them. Russell is widely credited with inventing this method. Over the last several years, Adams has been working on the documentary by doing interviews, compiling somewhere near 350 hours of materials. With only his own bank account as financial backing, he would have to set the project aside when paying gigs came through his company, River Road Creative. “So many people have been emailing me or reaching out via Facebook and letting me know how happy they are that someone is telling this wonderful man’s story, and asking, ‘When can I see the film!’” says Adams. “Kickstarter seemed to be the perfect avenue where people like that, if so inclined, could support me in my effort to finish the film in a more timely manner, and in a bigger way than my humble pockets would allow.” “We just reached over $18,000 which is meeting our intended goal of

Dog trainer extraordinaire Dick Russell

photo courtesy of Liz Achee

$18,000, but the wonderful thing about Kickstarter is, the more money you raise, the more money you can commit to make your project the best it can possibly be.” For more information, visit www.kickstarter.com and enter the keywords “dog man” to learn more about Adams’ project. S

FLY YUNG RO DROPS DESTINED TO WIN EP by Susan Ross

New Orleans native transplanted to Los Angeles, Fly Yung Ro dropped his Destined to Win EP on May 28. “Good Discouragement – PT 2” opens laid back, a commentary on growing up amidst the violence prevalent in New Orleans, closing with Glasses Malone, who recently signed with Cash Money Records. The West Coast sounds of “Go Kr@zy” are reminiscent of Ice Cube’s seminal 1992 album The Predator, a far cry from the familiar flavors of New Orleans rap. The title track begins like a Kavinsky B-side, an outtake from the soundtrack to Drive, director Nicholas Winding Refn’s 2011 ode to Miami Vice cool. It explodes into an autobiographical rant against post-Katrina strife. Though it would be better balanced with a female artist joining the hook, Destined to Win’s outtro, entitled “Victory Song,” shows perhaps the most promise of the five-track debut, showcasing the young artist’s ability to structure a song. All told, the EP promises new hip-hop sounds beyond the fun-but-familiar sounds of bounce, and the Grammy gangsta rap of Lil Wayne and company. Look for Fly Yung Ro’s Destined to Win EP in iTunes. S

54 | June/July 2012

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MUSIC |

RHYME

Essence is of the

ESSENCE FEST 2012 by Elizabeth Glauser

ssence Fest returns to New Orleans this July 4th weekend to take over the Mercedes-Benz Superdome for a weekend of arena-sized musical performances, intimate stage shows and empowering presentations, coalescing in an experience the fest calls, “The Power of Our Voice.”

REIGNING OVER THE DOME for the weekend will be the Queen of Soul, ARETHA FRANKLIN, in her first Essence Fest appearance since 2005. The legendary singer will be honored by Essence with “The Power Award” as she closes out the festival Sunday night. Joining Franklin on the Essence stage is fellow music legend and Scene’s August/September 2011 cover, MARY J. BLIGE. Spanning multiple genres and garnering nine Grammy Awards, Blige is one of the fest’s most renowned performers, an artist whose talents aren’t limited to the stage. Her show at Essence will come just weeks after the opening of Rock of Ages, a rock musical that features Blige as a strip club owner.

mary j. blige diggy simmons photo by Patrick Hoelck

THE FESTIVAL KICKS OFF A DAY EARLY to premiere young and rising stars on the New & Next Stage. This night in the Superdome is suited for a younger set with performances from Diggy Simmons, OMG Girlz and The Roots Music. Fans of the fest can get access to these up-and-comers by purchasing fifty dollars or more in festival merchandise, receiving two tickets to the show and a year subscription to Essence. THE MAIN STAGE STILL REIGNS SUPREME OVER ESSENCE with performances on Friday from D’Angelo, Trey Songz, Charlie Wilson, Keyshia Cole and the Pointer Sisters.

trey songz

photo by Christian Lantry

MORE ESSENCE FEST 2012 56 | June/July 2012

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ON SATURDAY, THE MAIN STAGE will welcome Blige, along with comedian Kevin Hart, Ledisi and Tank. Hart, who starred in this year’s Think Like a Man, will change things up, leaving music behind for his set. The funnyman’s feature from his 2011 comedy tour, Laugh at My Pain, made him Ticketmaster’s number one comedian of the year. Before Hart performs, New Orleans native Ledisi brings that local flavor with her library of Grammy-nominated songs. THE LAST DAY OF ESSENCE welcomes Aretha Franklin, American Idol alum Fantasia – whose 2006 biopic Life is Not a Fairytale, shot in New Orleans - and a man who knows how to bring it on a Sunday: Kirk Franklin. Fantasia returns for her third appearance at the fest just before Aretha Franklin takes the stage to close out the evening. The night culminates with the coronation of the Queen of Soul as Essence Fest’s recipient of “The Power Award.” This feat for Franklin marks one of many in a lifetime of musical achievements, including eighteen Grammys, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and an honorary doctorate from Yale.

ledisi

tank

kirk franklin

photo by Patrick Hoelck

fantasia

photo courtesy of RCA Records

MORE ESSENCE FEST 2012 58 | June/July 2012

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Included with festival tickets is access to a more low key experience. ATTENDEES CAN VISIT THE SUPERLOUNGE with intimate performances from artists like Estelle, Rebirth Brass Band, Stephanie Mills, Teedra Moses and Eve. There is one perk of the festival that fans can experience without purchasing the pricey tickets. All of New Orleans can show up for the festival’s FREE PRE-SHOW BLOCK PARTY with DJ’s playing every day before the doors to the Dome open. Another aspect of the festival aims to show that the power of voice isn’t limited to music: FREE SEMINARS AT THE ERNEST N. MORIAL CONVENTION CENTER. Essence Fest will host a slew of speakers to empower attendees including author Steve Perry, US Rep. Maxine Waters and Steve Harvey- actor, comedian and author of the best-selling book, Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man. Harvey’s relationship advice book was adapted into the box office success Think Like A Man earlier this year, the film to drop The Hunger Games from its number one box office stronghold. The festival will again partner with the City of New Orleans to benefit youth programs. New Orleans has hosted the event for almost two decades, prompting Essence Fest to give back to the community with a YOUTH-ORIENTED VERSION OF THEIR EMPOWERMENT SERIES. The ever-growing list of performers includes Luke James, SWV, Raheem DeVaugh, Eve, Dru Hill and festival favorite Nephew Tommy. Tickets for Essence Fest start at $120 for a weekend package and $50 for a single day pass and can be purchased at www.essence.com.

60 | June/July 2012

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AT JAZZ FEST 2012 by Andi Eaton photos by Alicia Antoinette

t was a thunderous afternoon when Joe Cocker took the Woodstock stage forty-three years ago in a tie-dyed v-neck with his version of a skinny bootleg jean. The following morning, after Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young played through the night, Jimi Hendrix, in his now iconic fringetasseled cape, closed the weekend with “The Star-Spangled Banner.” At that same moment on the other side of the globe, Marisa Berenson was posing for Vogue in a Halston tie-dyed caftan. Yves Saint Laurent deemed her “the girl of the 70s.” One of Diana Vreeland’s favorite models and granddaughter of designer Elsa Schiaparelli (one of the most prominent women in fashion, by the way, and currently the subject of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute exhibit “Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations” but that’s another gushing story entirely), Marisa was living a 60s/70s haute couture Parisian-American girl’s dream. And in those moments, between acoustic set and electric guitar, through the lens of a high fashion photog’s camera, the love child known as boho-chic or hippie couture – or, more presently, festival fashion, was officially born. Here in Louisiana, we have over four hundred festivals every year, ranging from Seafood and Catfish to Creole Tomato and Strawberry festivals. And that’s just one end of the spectrum. At the other end, we have Blues, Cajun, Jazz and Voodoo festivals. So as I started out on the Fair Grounds Race Course during this year’s New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, I reflected back on two things. Those festival fashions of ‘69 Woodstock, of course. But more so, the spirit in Congo Square circa 1970 when Mahalia Jackson and Duke Ellington led the Eureka Brass Band and a crowd of second-liners through the festival grounds. It was the city’s first Jazz Fest, and while the rockers in NY were paving the way for one genre of musicians, the lineup in New Orleans in that first year (Fats Domino, The Meters, The Preservation Hall Band, Pete Fountain, Clifton Chenier, and daily parades by the Mardi Gras Indians) showed the world

64 | June/July 2012

| FASHION

www.scenelouisiana.com | 65

FASHION | where America’s richest music culture really lives. At the Fair Grounds, I made my way from stage to stage, through the crafts and marketplace, past the Cajun Duck Po-Boys and the Boudin Balls (stopping of course for Crawfish Bread and a Mango Freeze) on the hunt for the best in festival fashion. Ever so quickly, a distinct dress code that only those that understand the climate of the ‘northernmost Caribbean city’ appeared. So while the grunge girl, hippie-rocker chic festival style abounded, I found that specific rules applied to those that looked somehow glistening and airy, like Lauren Conrad in the breezy Coachella air (I admit I’m fully obsessed and one of her 427k Instagram followers) versus the usual southern Louisiana sweaty and swampy. RULE 1 - This one’s for the ladies: let your natural beauty shine. Let your hair curl and wave: Aveda’s Be Curly collection tames even the most severe humidity-induced frizz. Keep the makeup to a minimum, but always, always apply a slick of your most luminous lip color and add a stroke of the mascara wand. My favorite fest girl wore her hair in a slightly mohawked afro the color of a sunrise. And then there was the golden parasol girl with the rosiest lips and her pretty peachy hair tied back in a braid. I also just loved the materials designed for comfort: simple cotton, linens and lace, piled high with accessories. The accessories of the day: “Love” (and “Peace” of course), whether rings or necklaces, polka dots big and small, and natural materials from leathers, to seed beads and puka shells. RULE 2 - Live in color (and make it a bright one): Just parade through the Mardi Gras Indians and be inspired by the monochromatic seriously vibrant hues, or take a look back at the F/W runways where Oxblood Red became the new neutral. The modern version of this look is as simple as throwing on your most vivid bandana while whirling around in your bare feet, or pulling on a sunrise yellow wide brim hat and a loose fitting top in Tangerine Tango (Pantone’s color of the year). Electric blue street style high tops were perfect for all day trekking from stage to stage (a lady in heels on the festival grounds will not get far), or match your twirly sundress to your umbrella (perfect for rain or shine). The trendiest gals applied artist chalk to their ombre ends to give their hair vivid, day-long temporary tone. And, P.S., gents - your favorite band t-shirt with sunglasses in a matching shade will do the trick. Or pair your tribal orange sunnies with a perfectly on tone coral lightweight tee. 66 | June/July 2012

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FASHION | RULE 3 - Play it safe. This one is so simple and will absolutely save you. Step 1: Apply sunscreen. Step 2: Re-apply sunscreen. Step 3: Repeat after me: “It’s all about a wide-brimmed hat and my largest facecovering shades.” And these three steps go for both the guys and the gals. The gentleman that looked the smoothest and the coolest obviously knew the easiest way to stay handsome in tropical weather: pair a lightweight shirt in an even lighter color with your loose-fitting khaki’s or seersucker - this way, no one will see you sweat. (Want reassurance? Spend a night with Johnny Depp in The Rum Diary). So as I left the Fair Grounds in my basket-weave flats covered in a bit of racetrack mud with music still floating through my mind, the storm cloud dotted with a magenta pink sunset overhead reminded me that I can’t wait to spend the summer months under a palm tree or on a front porch, with Sharon Jones on the record player channeling exactly what I’d learned from my favorite Louisiana festival girls and guys. S

68 | June/July 2012

FASHION |

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72 | June/July 2012

| FASHION

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76 | June/July 2012

letters OF THE law by James Napper, III

James Napper, III discusses legal topics and answers legal questions submitted by Scene Magazine readers, both entertainment professionals and the general public.

I am making an independent film and I would really like to use a certain well-known song that I believe ties into the plot very well. What would be the most cost-effective and legally sensible way to do this?

GOT A QUESTION FOR JAMES?

Submit your legal questions to

lettersoflaw@scenelouisiana.com. To contact James Napper directly, email jnapper@napperlaw.com or visit www.napperlaw.com A Louisiana-based attorney who specializes in intellectual property and entertainment law, James Napper, III, J.D., LL.M. is a graduate of The George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C., where he studied intellectual property law. He is a recipient of the Stephen T. Victory Memorial Award for “Who Dat: The NFL, New Orleans, and the Implications of LSU v. Smack Apparel,” and the author of “Life as Art: How Technology and the Infusion of Music Into Daily Life Spurred the Sound Recordings Act of 1971,” which was selected for inclusion in the 2010 Entertainment, Publishing and Arts Legal Handbook.

The simple answer is licensing. For those that are not familiar with licensing, a license is a legal mechanism for an intellectual property owner to grant authority for a specific use of their intellectual property. The license only represents a right for a specific use of the intellectual property and does not involve any transfer of ownership. Something else to be aware of in this type of situation is that there exist two separate and distinct copyrights within a recorded song. One copyright exists for the underlying musical composition, or the music and lyrics of the song. This copyright is usually owned by a music publishing company and/or the songwriter. The other copyright exists for the recordation of the song, which is typically owned by the recording company. Given that you would like to use a particular song for your film, that leaves you with two options. You can secure the appropriate licenses for a particular preexisting recording of the song. Or, you can hire another band to record a version of the song to be used within your film and secure the necessary licenses under this option. Now, it is appropriate to look into what are the requisite licenses under these options. The first essential license is a synchronization license, or sync license. The sync license grants the licensee the right to bundle the music together in timed relation with visual images or motion pictures to create an audiovisual work. This license must be acquired from the copyright owner in the musical work (usually a music publisher) and is typically licensed on a flat fee basis. The sync license is required for the use of any song that is not a new composition or in the public domain. The next indispensable license is known as the videogram license. This license is also negotiated with the music publisher,

and is used to allow the producer to make and sell videotape and DVD copies of the film containing the musical composition. In practice, this license is often merged into the sync license agreement in a separate clause for the videogram license. Also required is a performance license. This license allows the producer to show the film in all the other available mediums while satisfying public performance protections under copyright law. In the U.S. you do not need a performance license to show your movie in theaters, and most television stations will have a blanket license with music publishers for such performances, however you should obtain this type of license for viewings in foreign countries that might have dissimilar public performance protections, as well as those times when the film may be shown at public venues without any blanket license. Lastly, should you desire to use a particular preexisting recording of the song you will need to obtain a master use license from the record company that owns that version of the desired song. Simply put, this license allows you to use the master recording of your desired song in your film. When deciding whether to use a particular preexisting version or a newly recorded version of the desired song, the producer must weigh the costs associated with the process of recording the new version against the costs associated with obtaining a master use license for the preexisting recording of the song. Additionally, there are concerns with royalty rates should the song be included on a soundtrack in the future that must also be considered. No matter what the ultimate decision is, procuring the necessary licenses is the key. When these issues arise, a producer should consult an experienced entertainment attorney. S

Disclaimer: The information contained herein is intended to provide general information and does not constitute legal advice. The content is not guaranteed to be correct, complete, or up-to-date. This information is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship between you and James Napper, Scene Magazine, or any associated companies, and you should not act or rely on any information in this publication without seeking the advice of an attorney. In reading this article, please note that the information provided is not a substitute for consulting with an experienced attorney and receiving counsel based on the facts and circumstances of a particular transaction. Many of the legal principles mentioned are subject to exceptions and qualifications, which may not be noted. Furthermore, case law and statutes are subject to revision and may not apply in every state. Because of the quick pace of technological change, some of the information in these articles may be outdated by the time you read it.

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FILM |

UNIVERSAL PRODUCER Battleship’s Duncan Henderson Returns to Baton Rouge with Oblivion by Elizabeth Glauser

ome things are just best suited for the South. After producing this summer’s Battleship on the lot at Raleigh Studios at the Celtic Media Centre last year, Duncan Henderson decided to bring his next big budget film back to Baton Rouge. Officially entitled The Untitled Tom Cruise Project, but better known for the moment as Oblivion, the film is directed by Tron:Legacy helmer Joseph Kosinski. Like Battleship, it is a titanicsized project from Universal Pictures. Originally set to film in Australia, economic downturns down under and economic incentives in Louisiana brought filming back stateside. “Because Battleship tied in with the US Navy, it was incredibly beneficial to stay in the United States,” says Henderson. “Then getting the benefit of the Louisiana rebate, this all kind of came together.” Splitting shooting days between Hawaii and Louisiana, Battleship took advantage of both states’ filming incentives. However, on the islands, there are restrictions on the tax rebates a production can receive. “To speak highly of the Louisiana rebate, it actually is a very clean, straightforward rebate that people have been successfully working inside the parameters of and collecting the money,” says Henderson. “So it was pretty straightforward, where other [states] change them all the time. They start them, then stop them. Louisiana has had a good, long history of making the rebate an actual, practical thing to go for and actually get.” “Hawaii’s expensive in a lot of different ways too,” adds Henderson. “So to the extent that you can get to Louisiana, you are better off economically.” Although Battleship is set in Hawaii, much of the film’s setting was able to be created using the stages at Raleigh Studios. The big budget production was one of the first of its size to film at the Celtic Media Centre, helping break in the soundstages

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Duncan Henderson with producer Scott Stuber

photo by Frank Masi/Universal Pictures

ON THE LOUISIANA TAX INCENTIVE

Louisiana has had a good, long history of making the rebate an actual, practical thing to go for, and actually get. and let the industry know they were able to handle studio-sized projects. “To tell the truth, we did a lot of learning on Battleship about what was here on the lot, how it

worked and I was very happy, certainly happy enough to want to come back and do it all over again,” says Henderson. “Coming back the second time, you’ve already gone

| FILM

(L-R) Director Peter Berg with Battleship stars Brooklyn Decker, Col. Gregory D. Gadson, Taylor Kitsch, Rihanna and Alexander Skarsgard photo by Michael Buckner

through it. So when people would ask this or that about how big the stage is and the grids, how construction worked, et cetera, we knew.” When it came time to film Henderson’s next project, the Tom Cruise intergalactic epic Oblivion, the producer returned to familiar Louisiana territory. “We pretty much knew exactly what it was going to be like. We were here before,” says Henderson. “There’s always a little bit of learning when you first come to any place, and I feel that we’ve already been through that on Battleship, so we came with Oblivion and it wasn’t like there were any particular surprises. We knew what we knew. And we certainly were aware of how the rebate worked. I think that in that sense, we were able to maximize maybe it a little bit more.” While bringing in crew from California, Henderson also

took advantage of Louisiana’s stock of film professionals. “Almost every department has some local crew working in it,” says Henderson. “Financially you’d like to have more. The more Louisiana-based crew you could have the better off you would be.” Before helming some of the biggest productions of the day, Henderson himself began his career below the line. Starting out as an assistant director, Henderson was able to learn how films are actually made by working directly with all of the departments. “I’ve actually had the benefit of starting at the bottom, and I think that’s been helpful because I was actually a DGA trainee, and then became a 2nd assistant director, 1st assistant director,” says Henderson. “I got to work right in the middle of the crew and learn a lot. That’s been very beneficial. www.scenelouisiana.com | 85

FILM | I spent a lot of time doing that, and kind of learning as you’re going. You got to meet a lot of people. I think it has been really beneficial, just basically coming up through the ranks and learning the ropes that way.” Filmmaking is becoming a major part of Baton Rouge, but there is one other thing that’s still king: LSU football. “One of the things great about Baton Rouge is it’s the capital and it’s also got LSU here,” says Henderson. “So if you’re a sports fan, and I’m a big college football fan, you can’t really do any better than that.” The football-enthused filmmaker may have taken in a game or two in Tiger Stadium, but it’s the overall atmosphere of Baton Rouge that sticks. “Mostly when you’re here, you’re just working. Always, five days a week, lots of these pictures six days a week, and usually a lot of prep on the seventh day. You’re busy,” says Henderson. “If it’s just comfortable living, which it is here in Baton Rouge, and there’s an odd day out, there’s something you can go do and you’re happy.” Although a fan of Louisiana’s Southern charm, the producer hasn’t quite set up permanently in the capital city. “I’m a California guy. I was born and raised in California. My great grandmother was born in Los Angeles,” says Henderson. “But it’s nice down here. It’s a little bit of heaven here, but then you think, ‘I don’t think it’s quite like this in the middle of summer, when it might feel a little different.’ We’ve enjoyed it and certainly have gone out and looked all around the state.” “We actually drove all along the gulf coast from here to Florida just to see that part of the country. It’s stunningly beautiful. There’s so much to see and do. And certainly New Orleans is a very, very interesting town with something going on literally every week,” says Henderson. “So we have enjoyed our time down here, but like I said, I’m a California guy, and that’s where my family is, that’s where I’ll probably be heading back to. But it is tempting, I have to tell you.” Henderson is currently in Baton Rouge finishing up Oblivion with Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, Melissa Leo and more. After bringing some of Hollywood’s biggest names to the capital city, Oblivion will open next year. S

86 | June/July 2012

photo by Frank Masi/ILM/Universal Pictures

Taylor Kitsch and Liam Neeson in Battleship

Taylor Kitsch

photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

photo by Frank Masi/Universal Pictures

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ON THE SCENE

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THE UNSCENE The Beasts Within The flood of films into Louisiana has brought producers of all persuasions. Some are veterans, their storied careers decorated by cinematic accomplishment. Some are struggling to record their first accomplishments. All have come to spend money while making movies, dollars which fuel the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s entertainment ecosystem. Some other states have attempted to emulate the striking success of Louisianaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s now nearly decade-old film boom, but have ended up scarred. In Massachusetts, a director once bound for Louisiana was caught inflating tax credits. Luckily, he never officially arrived, now justly jailed for defrauding the people of that state. But Louisiana, too, has had its struggles, and not at the hands of visiting filmmakers. If you look closely, the violators arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mischievous migrants temporarily setting up shop until just before the sun rises. They are locals. People who have been fortunate to stay close to their families. Close to the communities that cultivated their success. The very few offenders in Louisiana have emerged from within. Given great opportunity, these malcontents seek only self-destruction. Their shortsightedness serves only to separate them from actual success. And that is the saddest end of all. Their names could have been sung as saviors in impossible economic times. Instead, they chose to cheat. Though troubling to see our native sons act in deceit, the silver lining is that these problems have been private. Truly the actions of a greedy few. Those in government tasked with both developing and defending the public interest have done so. They do so still. - The UnScene Writer Submit tips to unscene@scenelouisiana.com. Anonymity guaranteed.

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