"Lagniappe"
is an expression used in South Louisiana that
means "something extra". Each
year the local schools get a day off from
school. It's called Lagniappe Day.
This Mardi Gras season with the Saints Superbowl win has exhausted me. As fun as it was, I’m ready to get back to work. It’s like Lent for a non-Catholic.
That said, here’s one last video from the crazy 2010 Mardi Gras season. We took our dog to the Krewe of Barkus parade which was held on the afternoon of Superbowl Sunday. I made a video featuring him while harnessing the theme of the parade and finding a funny narrative.
Headlines: “Cajun girl goes to Scotland and adores Highland Cows.”
When we travel to Scotland, it is traditional for Mark to drive past fields or farms with Highland cows to let me take photos. This trip was particularly special because of the heavy snowfall. These amazing beasts completely intrigue me.
That said, enjoy watching these Highland cows in snow in my little video I call “Highland Cows in Winter, 2010.”
Week Two of winter holiday vacation in Scotland. On Sunday, we got together with family friends/friendly family for an afternoon of sledging – or sledding, if you are American, like me.
I’ve been MIA on my blog lately. We had the craziest past few weeks and now it’s time to return to normalcy, whatever that is. I have to create “normalcy” because we finally made the official move from Los Angeles to New Orleans.
We’ve been in New Orleans several weeks considering and planning the move. Finally, we did it. We flew to L.A., tied up loose ends by reducing our obligations there significantly, drove back to New Orleans with all our worldly possessions (truck broke down twice in the Texas heat! Ugh!) and moved into our own little cottage in the Garden District.
During this time, the Louisiana Legislature passed the updated film tax incentive bills and the Governor signed them into law. With the new incentives and new home and new life, my hopes hinge on the theory that more features will be produced in Louisiana opening opportunities for my film career as a local talent in the Pelican State. By the end of the year, if this theory does not prove true, it’s OK. New Orleans is an exciting and lively town ripe with opportunity for creative individuals. Besides, the fun never ends. I feel very good about moving here.
Parkour is not a competitive sport. Instead it depends on internet videos as it’s performance venue. The parkour athletes, or traceurs, or freerunners – or whatever! – must also be innovative filmmakers of the short subject genre. They are creative and adventurous.
The style of parkour videos is evolving daily. Here’s a favorite that veers off the beaten path of the more common rock or rap ones. The artist/filmmaker is one of the WFPF’s Official Athletes, Danny Arroyo.
The title might be misleading. I’m not in the hot new Star Trek movie that just came out last week. However, I did work on an episode of the television version, Enterprise. A Star Trek enthusiast in Germany wrote a nice article about my work on Enterprise and more. I am terribly flattered and wanted to share it.
Much needed love for the state of Louisiana comes from the Hollywood film community as they travel to the state to produce movies. When Hollywood films in the state, they spend money and employ local residents. The current tax incentives are slated for “sundown,” meaning their time is nearly up. Therefore, the state legislature must reinstate them and, better yet, increase them to compete with other states with incentive programs.
Please show your love. Support Louisiana’s Film Tax Incentives by contacting Louisiana legislators and the Gov. Ask them to continue the incentives or increase them so the state can continue to gain much needed jobs and revenue.
The economic impact study completed by Economics Research Associates – commissioned by the Louisiana Economic Development Department – presents ample evidence to support the success of the film industry incentive program. These numbers clearly bolster the argument to increase our production incentive to 30% to remain competitive.
These are the facts:
1. In 2007, the year that $115 million in tax credits were paid, the economic impact to the State of the industry as a whole was $763 million.
2. Employment in Louisiana’s film industry increased at a compound annual growth rate of 22 percent from 2001-2007. This compares to a national growth rate of 1.8 percent annually. Wages have increase at an average annual rate of 8.2%, much faster than inflation.
3. In 2007, the total spend of the film industry in Louisiana supported 3,310 jobs directly and an additional 2,920 jobs indirectly. That is 6,230 jobs in Louisiana created because of the film incentive program.
The fun never stops in The Big Easy. Last weekend we attended Festival Internationale de Louisiane. Tuesday night we had dinner with friends in Foubourg Merigny. Last night we went to a Jazz Festival party at our friend’s house in the Quarter who is on the Jazz Festival Board – musical entertainment was Charmaine Neville. And, this is the second weekend of the New Orleans Jazz Festival which we will attend and see Zachary Richard, Buckwheat Zydeco, Dr. John and possibly we’ll stay for Bon Jovi – who really doesn’t play Jazz, but us girls think he’s hot.
A pioneer in the world of acrobatic sports, Glenn Sundby, passed away on Wednesday. He was 87.
My personal connection to Glenn is this amazing photo he took of me in front of the Pyramids of Giza on our national gymnastics and trampoline tour of Egypt. At that point in time, there was no digital photography or Adobe Photoshop. It was film, therefore he caught a true, magical moment in time that was made into a poster displayed in gyms and bedrooms of little gymnasts across the country. He made me semi-famous.
I think of Glenn as a tremendous acrobatics enthusiast in shorts, t-shirt, sandals and a camera always around his neck as editor of his gymnastics magazines. USA Gymnastics, which he co-founded decades ago, released this story about Glenn’s passing. The Canadian Press: Glenn Marlin Sundby, co-founder of USA Gymnastics, dies at 87
