Crescent Crown sells land to Celtic Media Centre movie studio

TIMOTHY BOONE| TBOONE@THEADVOCATE.COM

Crescent Crown Distributing has sold a 10-acre site to The Celtic Media Centre for $3.2 million.

The beer distributor sold the land at 9550 Dawnadele Ave. to a limited liability corporation headed by Michael J. O’Connor, president and CEO of the Celtic Group, in a deal that was filed Wednesday with the East Baton Rouge Clerk of Court’s office.

Billy Long, vice president for the beer distributor, said the site that was sold is next to Celtic Studios, which has a 30-acre campus near the intersection of Interstate 12 and Airline Highway. Crescent Crown had been based out of the location, but recently moved into a new distribution facility at 9101 Tom Drive.

Celtic, which operates the largest film and television production studio in Louisiana, has been aggressive about expanding into adjoining properties. In 2009, the studio paid $1 million for the former headquarters of the Baton Rouge chapter of the American Red Cross, which is located near the studio.

The Celtic Media Centre currently has 150,000 square feet of stage space and 90,000 square feet of office space. Several high-profile big-budget movies have been filmed at the studio in recent years, including the last two “Twilight” films, the Tom Cruise-Morgan Freeman science fiction thriller “Oblivion” and the upcoming “Fantastic Four,” which will be released Aug. 7. The upcoming TV series “Scream,” an MTV adaptation of the popular horror movies, and “Hap and Leonard,” which will air on the Sundance Channel, have recently been filming at the studio.

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