To read all about our first event of the Vieux Carre Graffiti Abatement Program, click here.

FQBA is asking the community to help make the French Quarter graffiti free!

Important volunteer information:
-Wednesday, July 14th, 2010 at 3 p.m.
-Please arrive at Jackson Square at 2:30 pm for check-in.
-Bring a completed volunteer form.
-The first 125 volunteers will receive a t-shirt to wear on the 14th and everyone will be supplied with necessary items.
-This is a 4 hour commitment.
-Wear tennis shoes and nothing of value.
-Water and restrooms will be provided.
-A great way to receive community service hours!

Please download and complete the VC-GAP_Volunteer_Agreement_Form.

To volunteer contact the FQBA office at 504.309.1423 or email annie@fqba.org.

Register for your chance to win a “Get Away in the Vieux Carre”

Click here for more information and to register.

FQBA compiles and distributes a monthly email blast.  To view the latest click here.  To be added to the distribution list please send your contact information through the contact us page.

Help guide the French Quarter Business Association (FQBA) in its mission of to assist in the development and success of business in the French Quarter.

 FQBA is conducting a business survey in order to better serve its members and the community at large.  This online survey asks business owners to express business challenges from seasonality to employee retention. 

 This is an attempt to learn what business owners in the French Quarter need the association to focus efforts on in the future.  Obstacles that FQBA attempts assist with currently are cooperative marketing and disbursement of community information. 

 The survey can be accessed here: FQBA Survey.  It takes about 15 minutes to complete.  A hard copy can be received upon request.  

 Please not only take the time to answer the survey, but also spread the word and link to any other French Quarter businesses.

French Quarter Business Association and its participating members are giving away 2-night stays in the French Quarter through their “Get Away in the Vieux Carre” promotion.

You can fill out a simple entry form here.

Ten packages will be given away to winners chosen at random from entrants at www.frenchquarterbiz.com. Each package will include a two-night stay in a French Quarter hotel (subject to availability), complimentary meals and two museum or attraction tickets. Participating members and links to their individual websites are listed on the entry website.

Winners will be selected at random each Friday starting July 31st through October 2nd.

USA Today     www.usatoday.com     April 29, 2009

Film boomlet hits New Orleans

By Rick Jervis, USA TODAY

NEW ORLEANS — For years, New Orleans has been a mixed bag for Hollywood producers: Some have shot their movies in the city, taking advantage of state tax credits and the city’s exotic charms, while others have bypassed the Big Easy because of a shortage of soundstages.

Now a pair of studio projects emerging in and near New Orleans have raised the hope that more movie and television projects are coming — and along with them, extra revenue that can help the ongoing recovery effort from the 2005 hurricanes.

The number of major television and movie projects shot in New Orleans jumped from nine in 2005 to 21 last year — a record for the city, says Jennifer Day, head of the city’s film and video office.  Last year’s projects generated $230 million in direct economic impact for the city, she says.

Part of the appeal are tax credits.  But a big part is also the city’s unique architecture and diverse landscape, says Joshua Throne, unit production manager for The Expendables, a movie starring and directed by Sylvester Stallone.

Even after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans‘ charms are unlike other cities in the U.S., Throne says.  “You combine the unique architecture and aesthetics with generous state tax credits ...  and it makes for a good place to film a movie,” he says.

New Orleans‘ movie industry is in the midst of expanding with nearly 600,000 square feet of incoming soundstages.  The soundstages allow movie producers to film interior scenes.

The local movie industry remains a major economic driver in the city’s long-haul recovery from the 2005 devastation of Katrina, says Belinda Little-Wood, the city’s director of economic development.

“It has continued to be a very consistent source of revenue for the city,” Little-Wood says.  “If it were to go away tomorrow, it would be a sizable blow.”

New Orleans has been host to movies such as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, starring Brad Pitt, and the upcoming HBO series Treme, by writer-producer David Simon, creator of The Wire.

As the economy soured, city officials braced for a downturn this year in movie and TV productions, Day says — but New Orleans has six major projects in production, she says.

“The one gaping hole we had in the industry here was the stage space issue,” Day says.  “Now we can say we have pretty much everything you need.”

One of the soundstage projects is emerging in the city’s Lower Garden District, just upriver from the French Quarter, amid rusting warehouses and apartments.  When completed in January, Second Line Stages will be a 90,000-square-foot complex offering three soundstages, 15,000 square feet of office space and a 49-seat digital screening theater, says Trey Burvant, the studio’s founder.

Burvant, a New Orleans native, was working as an actor and producer in Boston when Katrina wrecked his hometown.  He returned shortly after to help revitalize the city and found Susan Brennan, a local developer with the property.  Along with partner Diane Wheeler, they were able to secure $25 million for the project from private investors.

“You look at New Orleans after Katrina and there was an opportunity to come back and build smarter,” Burvant says.

Ten miles west of Second Line Stages, Wayne Read and Dan Forman are retrofitting a former Winn-Dixie distribution center to complete what will be the area’s largest movie studio: 525,000 square feet, including five soundstages spread over 25 acres.  The Louisiana Film Studios, a $30 million project, will be the largest studio east of Albuquerque.

“We have productions that we have lost to other markets because of lack of infrastructure,” Read says.  “Our goal is to capture that.”

Read says he got the idea for the studio after working as a film consultant on Benjamin Button and realizing there was a need for soundstages and offices.  He and Forman, the studio’s president, had planned to open later this year, but Hollywood came knocking: Two movie productions —The Expendables, starring Stallone and Mickey Rourke, and independent production Dead of Night— needed space right away.  They opened the studios in February.

 Other states, such as Georgia and Michigan, offer incentives to movie productions similar to that of Louisiana, which provides a 25% tax credit that is transferable and could be traded for cash.  But with the area’s pool of film crews and future soundstages, New Orleans will be a prime location, says Ravi Mehta, senior vice president of physical production at Warner Bros.  Mehta was in New Orleans overseeing the production of Jonah Hex, a movie starring Josh Brolin and John Malkovich.

 “This is going to be an attractive place for big movies,” Mehta says.

Holiday Happy Hours ~ Holiday Promotion

A collaborative push to promote local shopping in the French Quarter

Saturday, December 6th 6 – 9 p.m.

with a tree lighting ceremony at

French Market’s Washington Artillery Park

Sunday, December 21st 4-7 p.m.

in conjunction with

Patio Planters Annual Caroling in the Square

The goal is to target these 2 special days of shopping in December along with Special Events to drive foot traffic. Participants from all parts of the Quarter including N. Peters, Decatur, Jackson Square, Chartres and Royal Street, as well as connecting streets are invited to join.

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