Fletcher Camera & Lenses is going where the action is. The 25-year old rentals company in the process of opening a branch office in New Orleans – the number three production destination in the US, boasting $1.4 billion in film revenue and 41 movie and TV projects on the books for productions so far this year.
Fletcher Louisiana will open after the Fourth of July in 6,000-sq. ft. one-story building at 5725 Heebe St. in the Crescent City’s Elmwood/Jefferson Parish, where several other film vendors are also located.
While local film/post companies have opened branches in L.A. and Dallas, Fletcher is the first Chicago-based company to open in New Orleans office.
As a full-service business with local staff, inventory and service, Fletcher Louisiana, LLC qualifies as a vendor whose goods and services are eligible for a Louisiana Motion Picture Tax Incentive Program.
Fletcher Louisiana will officially open upon the arrival next Monday of camera veteran Tim Caldwell, Fletcher’s technical operations manager of Chicago headquarters and Detroit and New Orleans branches.
Caldwell will bring along the first portion of Fletcher’s multi-million dollar camera and optics inventory for the new branch. They include one of the bigger Alexa camera systems available in the US, along with Sony F65s and Red Epics, Codex digital recorders and newest Cooke, Zeiss and Angeniuex lenses.
It will also offer comprehensive a technical service department with lens collimation, projection and camera maintenance.
Caldwell joined Fletcher in March, 2011 after spending most of his 28-year career with Panavision in Los Angeles and New York. He is setting up permanent residence in New Orleans’ Treme’ district.
Joining Caldwell in New Orleans is another camera veteran, marketing representative Kelli Bingham. A native of Ft. Worth, she originally opened Panavision’s New Orleans office in 2002 and also has considerable experience as a freelance production manager and travel coordinator.
“The great advantage of having Kelli on our team is that she has working in New Orleans a long time and knows her way around the city and film community the way we know Chicago,” Fletcher comments.
A local technical assistant will be hired for the new office.
Opening in New Orleans a thoughtful move
The New Orleans expansion, actualized after many months of discussion, investigation and exploration, is a “natural progression for Fletcher,” comments Zoe Borys, Fletcher’s general manager. “New Orleans is definitely a diversified model and provides an all-year production season for us.”
Fletcher Louisiana got a warm welcome from Chris Stelly, executive director of Louisiana Entertainment, the state film office. “Fletcher is yet another asset to our maturing motion picture industry and will prove to be a vital component to our infrastructure,” he says.
New Orleans is Fletcher’s second branch, having opened in Detroit in 2009, when Michigan has top tier film incentives that made it a was a roaring production market. Despite the loss of incentives last year, “Fletcher Detroit is still doing well as it continues to provide cameras for long term projects,” says Borys. Currently, it’s supplying cameras for two features filming there.
