It looks like 2013 was another good year in terms of movie and TV projects for "Hollywood South," and according to Shreveport-Bossier Film Office Director Arlena Acree 2014 could be even better.

Acree said we saw 14 productions with budgets totaling nearly $70 million, nearly 8,700 hotel rooms booked, 312 production days,and almost 3,560 crew positions created.

Some of the feature films shot here last year were "The Town That Dreaded Sundown," "Dakota's Summer," "Dark Places" and "The Last Word."  The pilot for the TV series "Salem" was also shot in our area last year.

"We're very excited about that, because they're predicting a four-tofive-year run on that one," Acree explained. "But they start back shooting on January 16."

And Acree said the series features some names you might recognize.

"Shane West is one," she said. "And Brandi Jamille Brown, Alexandra Daniels, J.D. Evermore and Seth Gable. There's a lot more."

She added that the producers are utilizing quite a few locals as extras, and a Bossier City woman has even been chosen as the stand-in for one of the leading actresses, Janet Montgomery.

This series is also a great opportunity for those with other talents, she noted. "They've been looking for costume seamstresses and things like that because these are 17th-century costumes, and a lot of them will have to be made," Acree said. "So they would have a cut-and-sew operation."

She added it's a lot of detail for these kind of projects and that producers want to do as much as they can in Louisiana so they can take advantage of our state's film industry tax credits.

Speaking of those credits, what are the chances they'll change this year? Acree said it's possible, but she's hopeful they won't. She believes that with the governor being supportive and a lot of our legislators -- including the mayor -- backing the film industry, those credits will remain in place.

What else is in store for 2014? Acree told KEEL News she has received a few inquiries just before the holidays about locations in which to film in our area.

One of them is a big studio project and the others were small, independent features.  "Usually, this time of year is very slow for us," Acree said. "But then after, say, the second week of January, it really starts picking up and folks will hopefully start coming in and looking at locations."

And according to Acree, there's more good news for our local film office. "Pam Glorioso is my co-partner, she represents Bossier," she said. "Pam and I actually submitted to an organization called Association of Film Commissioners International, and we won second place for our website and third place for our direct marketing piece."

Check out Shreveport-Bossier's award-winning film website to find out more about what's going on in our local film industry.

Watch the trailer for 'Salem' below

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