BATON ROUGE — Louisiana State University’s film and television production program has received an additional cash infusion from the state’s Entertainment Development Fund, a spokesman for the Louisiana Department of Economic Development said Tuesday.
The $200,000 grant will be used to foster stronger production programs with the ultimate goal of helping expand the state’s film production workforce talent pipeline, which according to LED sustains 10,000 jobs in the film industry and generates $1 billion in annual revenue for the state.
LSU will use the grant to add faculty to its Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film and Television, which is affiliated with the university’s School of the Arts’ Digital Arts program and the Computing & Technology Center’s Digital Media Arts and Engineering program. The grant will help hire new full-time faculty and help the program expand into previously unexplored areas of digital and virtual filmmaking.
The three-year grant comes as LSU’s film program has seen enrollment increase six-fold over the past eight years.
“LSU is building one of the most prestigious film and television programs, ranked in the top 100 film programs in the nation, and serves as a talent pipeline for Louisiana’s entertainment industry,” said Josh Flaig, LED’s chief innovation officer. “With the help of this grant, LSU will contribute to educating and training the next generation of Louisiana’s screen industry leaders.”
This is the second grant LSU has received, having previously received a five-year, $1.25 million Entertainment Talent Grant to create LSU’s Virtual Production program, which currently has 15 courses and hundreds of students from a variety of disciplines.
The program also led to nearly $8 million in funding from NASA to digitally recreate the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.
“This grant recognizes Louisiana State University’s potential to become an important center for film and digital media training in the Southeast,” said Eric Lau, dean of Louisiana State University’s School of Music and Theatre. “LED’s support will enable the School of Theatre and the School of Music and Theatre to attract and retain talented student filmmakers into our programs, helping to meet the vibrant workforce needs of Louisiana’s growing film industry.”