Hollywood South: Film Production and Movie-Going in New Orleans
This tour tells the stories of different moments in the formation and evolution of Hollywood South in New Orleans. Sites reveal the important people, films, theaters, and locations from the silent era to the present. New Orleans has become a major hub in the film production world. A city so infamous for its revelry and the disasters it has endured, its connections to the film industry has often been overlooked.
Access: Hybrid driving and walking
Distance: ~8.5 miles, ~45 minutes driving
Tips: Several of the tour stops near and along Canal Street are within walking distance of each other, while others can be driven to. Tour stop descriptions indicate if buildings are still standing or not. Some buildings on tour are private residences and not open to the public unless otherwise noted.
Stories 11
Courting 1910's Film Industry: New Orleans Association of Commerce
The New Orleans Association of Commerce was an organization dedicated to stimulating New Orleans-based industries, the organization increasingly saw film as part of their public relations strategies as early as the 1910s.
Saenger Amusement Company
The Saenger Amusement Company, organized in 1912 by brothers Julian and Abraham Saenger, grew into one of the largest motion picture chains in the south, with a peak total of 324 Saenger theaters…
Saenger Theater
The Saenger Theatre witnessed and mediated the rise and fall of several different forms of entertainment, including vaudeville, jazz and orchestral music, and motion pictures in its first decades on Canal Street. This theater also helped to usher in the age of sound films in New Orleans, playing host to several citywide premieres of numerous talking and motion pictures.
Liberty Theatre
The Liberty Theatre owned by the Saenger Amusement Company and managed under the auspices of Boehringer Amusement Company opened in 1918. The theater was lavishly designed with the intention of being…
Projectionist Strike of 1914
Projectionists played a key role in early movie theaters. Despite its central function, the job was not without occupational hazards.
Metro Film Exchange
In the early years of the film industry, few aspects of the industry were more important than distribution. Film exchanges handled the repair, rental, and advertisement of motion pictures both locally…
Filming Location: The Belle of New Orleans
The Old Jockey Club of New Orleans was a primary filming location of the 1912 silent film "The Belle of New Orleans." The film was created and produced entirely in New Orleans by the Kalem Film…
Diamond Film Company Studios
The Diamond Film Studios was to be the primary production site for the Diamond Film Company, one of the first homegrown film companies in New Orleans. The founding of the company was linked to an embezzlement scandal.
Prytania Theatre
The Prytania Theatre is the oldest operating theater in New Orleans, dating back to 1915. It is the only single-screen, suburban theater in the state of Louisiana. It caters to film buffs and families…
A Streetcar Named Desire
A Streetcar Named Desire is the title of a 1947 Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Tennessee Williams, adapted in 1951 for the big screen by director Elia Kazan. It is undoubtedly one of the most famous…