Governor Landry Tells Why “50 Cent” Chose Louisiana
Back in May of this year, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson surpised a lot of people when he announced his plans to bring his G Unit Studios to Shreveport. Jackson shared elaborate plans for producing film and television projects in Shreveport through his deal with the city to take over the defunct Millenium Studios.
Jackson's announced plans also included a new hotel near the new G-Unit Studios, a video sphere similar to the one in Las Vegas, and additional plans for the StageWorks building on the riverfront.
Since that initial announcement, Jackson has also purchased several properties in downtown Shreveport, a lot of them along Texas St. You can read more about that, and see the entire list of properties he purchased HERE.
Jackson recently met with Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry and Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux in Baton Rouge to discuss his plans for Shreveport. Naturally, the assumption would be that he would ask the governor about the repealing of the Louisiana Film Tax Credits, but Governor Landry told KEEL News, surprisingly, he didn't even bring it up.
"Well, quite frankly, he didn't come to talk about the film tax credits, he came to talk to me about a vision he has for Shreveport and some of the things that he is doing in there and the way that he is trying to revitalize the downtown area of Shreveport."
Governor Landry continued:
"We did have a discussion about the film tax credits. We talked about the things that are, politcally, a problem for the program, and the things that we are trying to do for a tax reform package program and I thought we had a great meeting. There were really no promises made on either side. We just had an open dialogue to talk about the ways we could revitalize the downtown Shreveport area."
When asked specifics about whether or not Jackson shared any specifics about his vision for downtown Shreveport, Governor Landry responded"
Well, if he shared with me some of that vision and he told me not to tell anybody, I can't!
When asked why Jackson chose Louisiana, more specifically Shreveport, Landry said:
He went around the country, it was kind of interesting because he went from... let me tell you something... he left New York, do you know why? He told me why, he left New York because of taxes and bad government. Then he went on to Houston... and then he went around and he was looking, I think, he didn't tell me this, I just surmised this... I'll just tell you this, what my opinion is, for what it's worth, I think he realized, there are cities that are not like, large media markets... that which the cost of living in those cities are astronomical based on the size... Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York, and he recognized, "you know what? I could go to some of these medium sized cities, right? And I could become a big fish in a small pond, rather than a big fish in a bigger pond, and you could really make some impact. And I think that Shreveport's proximity to the Dallas Ft. Worth area is attractive to him.
When asked if he thought Jackson wants to replicate Atlanta's success in the film and entertainment industry, Landry replied:
I think that he actually sees an opportunity to make Shreveport, basically, kind of an entertainment type city very similar to say, kind of New Orleans...
Governor Landry continued talking about Jackson's investment in downtown Shreveport.
I want ya'll to realize, that without investment inside the downtown area, without a vision inside of Shreveport... Shreveport continues to have a crime problem. The way you fix crime is to put people to work. The more people are working, the more money they have in their pocket, the less crime that you have... because just having more police and being tough in the criminal justice system doesn't fix the problem. It only addresses some of the symptoms.
Downtown Shreveport Properties Bought By Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson
Gallery Credit: Twin Blends Photography
Take a VIP Tour of Shreveport's New Amazon Facility
Gallery Credit: Mike Martindale