2006年VOA标准英语-Louisiana Uses Movies To Boost Economy

By Margaret Kennedy
New Orleans, Louisiana
05 September 2006
 
watch report / Hollywood South

 
Movie production in progress
  
One part of the Louisiana economy not only survived Hurricane Katrina -- it has grown.  VOA's Margaret Kennedy has this report on how Louisiana has become an important player in America's motion picture industry.

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Sean Penn in a promotion¹ for his new film  
  
On the set of the new movie, "All the Kings Men," you could see the usual elements of a major Hollywood production.

Except, this movie was made in Louisiana, a place some people are calling "Hollywood South."

It stars Sean Penn, Jude Law and Kate Winslet and is based on a novel about Louisiana politics in the 1930s.  Filming on location was an asset. However, the production came to New Orleans because of lucrative² tax incentives⁴, along with available and affordable⁵ technical talent and support.

In the past four years Louisiana has become the third largest center of moviemaking in the United States, behind California and New York.  Louisiana got the idea from Canada after it lured⁶ productions away from Hollywood in the 1990s using tax incentives.  

Alex Schott  
  
Alex Schott heads the Governor's Office for Film and Television Development. "These are some productions that have shot here on the soundstage, some storyboards. 'Ray.' 'Runaway⁷ Jury.' They built the courtroom in the soundstage here."

Moviemakers spend money with local companies and offer employment to people working as extras and technicians.

"To the state, it's very important for the workers, the laborers," says Schott. "Because over the past few years, we've averaged about $40 million in total Louisiana payroll⁸ alone. If you get that TV series that shoots here over a period of eight or nine months out of the year, that's as close to full employment as you can get."

An old New Orleans high school pool was used for an upcoming film called "Pride." The story, set in Philadelphia, is about a swimming coach who leads an inner-city team to victory in the 1970s. It stars Terrence Howard.

The diversity of settings throughout Louisiana and its mild climate please producers.  A sugarcane field could be in South Africa. An old roadside garage was the setting for the recent movie version of "The Dukes of Hazzard." 

 
Malcolm Petal⁹ 
  
Malcolm Petal runs theLouisiana Institute of Film Technology. His company finds talent, brokers¹⁰ deals, and provides facilities such as a prop¹¹ storage warehouse¹².   

"Without an incentive³ program it's almost impossible to finance films and television," says Petal. "So this really brought independent filmmaking, from a production angle, back to the United States, this Louisiana incentive."

The institute is working on plans for a large permanent technical facility in a warehouse district of New Orleans. It wants to avoid the problems it had last year, when it needed to quickly move seven productions to Shreveport and other Louisiana cities. The new facility will be adapted for potential flooding.

"It was an old railroad spur," explains Petal, "a little bit higher ground. We got about 18 inches [half a meter] of water in the flood. So we will put parking and everything underneath¹³, so you can put cars on the top afterwards. There's a few little things we can make it that would be smart redesign when you live in a bowl in a hurricane zone."
 

A graveyard¹⁴ statue  
  
New Orleans is well known for interesting graveyards¹⁵ and strange tales about spirits and the occult. In the film "Interview with the Vampire," Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise got into ghoulish treachery filming on location at a real plantation¹⁶ called Oak Alley¹⁷. The production shot for several weeks and involved elaborate costumes and makeup¹⁸.

Zeb Mayhew manages Oak Alley, a popular tourist attraction where visitors can come by Mississippi riverboat from the city. He says the fee for a movie company to use the plantation can be up to $40,000, depending on how much normal business is disrupted by filming.

 
Zeb Mayhew 
  

"It's a function of the involvement and what they intend to do when they are here," says Mr. Mayhew. "We learned this kind of the hard way when we started doing filming. They would say, 'Oh, we're going to make you a star, you are going to be in our film, and whoa, whoa, you don't want to charge us very much.'  We learned early on that the camera can really hone in on the beauty of the setting of our trees or something and you don't even know you were at Oak Alley."

Until now, tourism has been the main business of New Orleans, a city known for its music and food. Tourism and its infrastructure¹⁹ were hurt badly by last year's hurricane. The make-believe world of film and television is providing real paychecks to help the city and state recover. 

1 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

2 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

3 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

4 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

5 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

6 lured   

吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The child was lured into a car but managed to escape. 那小孩被诱骗上了车，但又设法逃掉了。
• Lured by the lust of gold,the pioneers pushed onward. 开拓者在黄金的诱惑下，继续奋力向前。

7 runaway   

n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的

参考例句：

• The police have not found the runaway to date.警察迄今没抓到逃犯。
• He was praised for bringing up the runaway horse.他勒住了脱缰之马受到了表扬。

8 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。

9 petal   

n.花瓣

参考例句：

• Each white petal had a stripe of red.每一片白色的花瓣上都有一条红色的条纹。
• A petal fluttered to the ground.一片花瓣飘落到地上。

10 brokers   

n.（股票、外币等）经纪人( broker的名词复数 )；中间人；代理商；（订合同的）中人v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的第三人称单数 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排…

参考例句：

• The firm in question was Alsbery & Co., whiskey brokers. 那家公司叫阿尔斯伯里公司，经销威士忌。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• From time to time a telephone would ring in the brokers' offices. 那两排经纪人房间里不时响着叮令的电话。 来自子夜部分

11 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。

12 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

13 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

14 graveyard   

n.坟场

参考例句：

• All the town was drifting toward the graveyard.全镇的人都象流水似地向那坟场涌过去。
• Living next to a graveyard would give me the creeps.居住在墓地旁边会使我毛骨悚然。

15 graveyards   

墓地( graveyard的名词复数 )； 垃圾场； 废物堆积处； 收容所

参考例句：

• He takes a macabre interest in graveyards. 他那么留意墓地，令人毛骨悚然。
• "And northward there lie, in five graveyards, Calm forever under dewy green grass," 五陵北原上，万古青蒙蒙。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学

16 plantation   

n.种植园，大农场

参考例句：

• His father-in-law is a plantation manager.他岳父是个种植园经营者。
• The plantation owner has possessed himself of a vast piece of land.这个种植园主把大片土地占为己有。

17 alley   

n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路

参考例句：

• We live in the same alley.我们住在同一条小巷里。
• The blind alley ended in a brick wall.这条死胡同的尽头是砖墙。

18 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

19 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。