Celtic rings changes in Baton Rouge

The Celtic Group has officially taken over Raleigh Studios Baton Rouge and will operate the Celtic Media Centre site in Louisiana through its Celtic Studios subsidiary.

The Celtic Studios hierarchy has promoted Patrick Mulhearn to executive director of Celtic Studios, which is now completely owned and operated locally. Mulhearn will focus on business development and long-term growth of Celtic Studios and the Media Centre.

Aaron Bayham is named director of studio operations at the Celtic Media Centre, Derek Elkins becomes manager of operations and production services and Brooke Laney will serve as marketing and events coordinator for the studio.

The Celtic Media Centre is the largest design-built studio facility in the State, covering nearly 150,000sq ft of stage space, 90,000sq ft of office space and eight acres of paved and unpaved backlot for set construction or future development.

The facility currently hosts production on Zipper starring Patrick Wilson, Lena Headey and Richard Dreyfuss. Principal photography on Fox’s Fantastic Four to be directed by Josh Trank is expected to commence in due course for a June 2015 release.

Since stage construction was completed in 2010, theBaton Rouge facility has hosted Universal’s Battleship and Oblivion, Summit Entertainment’s Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 and 2, Columbia’s Battle: Los Angeles, and Fox Television’s A&E series Breakout Kings, among others.

“We thank Raleigh for their years of service and appreciate their participation in helping us establish the Celtic Media Centre as a world-class facility for filmmakers,” said Celtic Group chairman and CEO Michael O’Connor.

“The Celtic Group looks forward to beginning a new chapter in motion picture production in Louisiana and Mississippi. Celtic Studios will now offer the same level of service and professionalism found on our campus wherever productions might need equipment and assistance throughout our region, and the Celtic Group will continue to connect productions with Louisiana tax credit buyers.”

“The past six years have taught us that facilitating and servicing productions, sometimes from development to delivery, is a never-ending task that extends well beyond our 30-acre campus,” said Mulhearn. “Our staff, production service partners, and tenant companies have the resources and ability to assist productions in our region no matter where they put their base camp.”

Louisiana Film And Entertainment Association (LFEA) executive director David Tatman said, “LFEA’s mission to grow the entertainment industry in Louisiana has been well served by the infrastructure and services provided by the Celtic Media Centre.  Celtic’s ability to service independents and blockbusters has played a major role in propelling Louisiana to its ranking of third in the nation in the production of motion pictures.”

http://www.screendaily.com/news/production/celtic-rings-changes-in-baton-rouge

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