Description
Book SynopsisEarly in the twenty-first century, Louisiana, one of the poorest states in the United States, redirected millions in tax dollars from the public coffers to become the number one location site globally for the production of Hollywood films and television series. Why would lawmakers support such a policy? This book deals with this topic.
Trade Review"Almost Hollywood, Nearly New Orleans adroitly probes The Crescent City’s ambivalent relation to its status as Hollywood South. … [the] book constitutes a timely contribution to the study of media industries for its thorough accounting of the debts incurred by a state like Louisiana and a city like New Orleans—and the unequal ways in which those burdens are distributed across racially and socioeconomically divided landscapes." * Media Industries Journal *
"Mayer offers compelling evidence for rethinking the material benefits of film tax credits. Using New Orleans as a case study is especially conducive towards understanding the effects of neoliberal cultural policy on the most marginalized areas of North America. Importantly, Mayer’s focus on intersections of race and class provide the necessary framework for thinking about how other local film economies in burgeoning North American cities such as Toronto, Atlanta, and Vancouver have dispossessed underprivileged communities. To that end, Mayer’s book offers a cautionary tale about the political embrace of an entrepreneurial film industry and its cultural, political, and economic effects." * Synoptique: An Online Journal for Film and Moving Image Studies *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Prologue: I’m Just a Film Tax Credit
Introduction: Presenting Hollywood South
1. The Making of Regional Film Economies: Why La. Is Not L.A.
2. Hollywood South: Structural to Visceral Reorganizations of Space
3. The Place of Treme in the Film Economy: Love and Labor for Hollywood South
(Almost a) Conclusion
Appendix: A Guide to Decoding Film Economy Claims and Press Coverage
Notes
Index
