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Louisiana kicks its movie location credibility up a notch
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Louisiana Governor Piyush "Bobby" Jindal (from Wikipedia)
At a news conference in Lafayette, Louisiana, on Friday, November 6, 2009, Pixel Magic announced it would open a digital media studio there in conjunction with the city’s Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise (LITE) center. The announcement was made by Pixel Magic’s vice president and general manager Ray Scalice, and the event was attended by key local and state officials, including Gov. Bobby Jindal.
New Mexico, Pennsylvania and various Canadian provinces – areas, like Louisiana, that in recent years have begun offering significant tax incentives to compete for film industry production spending – were also vying for Pixel Magic’s new studio distinction. "Pixel Magic's decision to locate in Louisiana will send a signal to Hollywood and to other leading digital media companies that Louisiana is a major player in the digital media industry," offered Gov. Jindal. "This win will help accelerate the development of Lafayette as a hub for digital media and film production, and, of course, it will help create more good jobs for our children so that they can pursue their dreams right here in Louisiana."
Beginning next month, Pixel Magic will be one of the first tenants of the Lafayette Economic Development Authority’s business accelerator, and the company plans to create 12 jobs within a year with hopes to expand to 40 positions in three years. In the past, the company has provided digital media services – using state-of-the-art technology to create buildings, environments and various special effects – for Marley & Me, Die Hard 4, Hotel for Dogs, 300, Blood Diamond, Fantastic Four, The Last Samurai and many other films.
The new studio’s first assignment will involve creating effects for Disney's Secretariat, which is being filmed and edited in the Lafayette area. Raymond McIntyre Jr., Pixel Magic's vice president and VFX supervisor, said part of that job will be to make what is now a practice racetrack at the Evangeline Training Center look like the three Triple Crown series infields – Churchill Downs, Pimlico and Belmont Park – portrayed in the film.
The video below should pique your interest for the upcoming Secretariat film. The magnificent horse obviously wasn’t “too pretty” to succeed and its three “socks” didn’t seem to hurt it, either!
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