Entertainment on North Shore could be good industry

It was several years ago when a Slidell businessman floated the idea of building a multi-million-dollar sound stage in eastern St. Tammany Parish. It was a fantastic proposal that could have transformed this area into its own Hollywood South all by itself.
The plan fell through when the Louisiana Legislature changed direction from previously offering big tax incentives to lure TV and movie productions to our state.
But the idea that Slidell, and the entire North Shore, could slowly become a high-priority destination for all things related to music, filming and entertainment is still the kind of industry that would be extremely attractive for St. Tammany Parish.
The prospects for that entire goal were highlighted this past weekend when the Northshore Cultural Economy Coalition hosted a two-day gathering called “The Art of the Film” expo, bringing together a wealth of talented and knowledgeable players in that very world. It hinted at the kinds of business that is already here and might eventually grow very quickly.
Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser kicked things off by talking about how big tourism is for our state, however, it is something that is exponentially expanded when TV and movie productions occur here.
The effort to offer local artists even more opportunities through the Ozone Songwriters Foundation is now another venue that has joined the effort to open doors in the music world for the many talented musicians and singers we have in this area. Founder and President Greg Barnhill is pushing hard to expand the prospects for those artists here on the North Shore, which would add to the attempt to lure other aspects of the entertainment industry to this area.
When you consider the many different businesses or industries that might end up on the North Shore, it is easy to pick out the ones we don’t want. A proposed casino over a year ago would head that list, and several others can easily come to mind when looking at a list of the prospects.
But the idea of more entertainment-related businesses here would be the kind of thing that is good for a lot of reasons.
Not only is it a clean industry for our North Shore environment, but it could offer a ton of supporting business that would easily go to locals already established here. The dollars that would be brought to St. Tammany could be very substantial, and it might be the start of something very big that could provide long-term and well-paying careers for our children and grandchildren, allowing them to stay right here to raise their families.
The support for an increase in the entertainment industry for St. Tammany appears to be solid up-and-down the line from public officials. Now, if the Louisiana Legislature could get behind it statewide with some of those tax incentives that were reduced in recent years, you still might see that sound stage built one day right here on the North Shore.