New Orleans City Business | Original Article
Deep South Studios, a TV, film and digital media production facility in Algiers, has opened for business with its first tenant.
Production Resource Group, a global entertainment and live event production services company, is the first to move into the facility at 1200 Mardi Gras Blvd. The two companies will service the entertainment and live events industries as well as film and TV clients, a news release said.
PRG will move into one of three buildings on the site that have been completed. Eight more are planned for the main campus.
“This strategic alliance with PRG allows us to offer entertainment clients and companies one-stop shopping when it comes to production services,” Deep South Studios founder and CEO Scott Niemeyer said in a statement.
His company is the first to use the state’s new incentive program for the entertainment industry that was announced last December.
For jobs paying $45,000 or more annually, a company is eligible for a 15 percent payroll tax credit. That credit increases to 20 percent for new jobs paying more than $66,000 annually.
The performance-based program allows companies to qualify for up to $1 million in payroll credits per year. If they create and maintain a minimum of five new jobs, they can become eligible for the payroll credit for five years, with an option to renew for five more years.
In 2016, Deep South Studios secured an additional $1 million tax break from the Industrial Development Board.
