Filming is taking place this week in Lafayette on a holiday-themed movie being produced by Lighthouse Pictures, state officials say.
"The Christmas Cupid" will shoot this week in downtown Lafayette, after filming scenes last week at South Louisiana Community College. Lighthouse Pictures is an independent distribution company known for making both live-action and animated motion pictures that focus on family and faith.
The independent feature film has a total estimated budget of $700,000, with estimated Louisiana expenditures of $300,000, including $211,000 in Louisiana resident payroll. The production is spending a total of four months in the state, including 12 days of principal photography in the Lafayette area.
“This film project is an example of how our film incentive program demonstrates value beyond just encouraging film production in Louisiana,” said Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Don Pierson. “Today, we find filmmakers using more locations throughout our state and see them using more screenplays created by Louisiana writers. These projects not only provide jobs for our talented entertainment workforce and generate economic activity for small businesses in the communities where production takes place, but in certain cases also integrate education and training. We welcome Lighthouse Pictures to Lafayette for this film project, and we’re especially pleased that the company is engaging students to learn and gain experience as they assist in the production.”
The movie filmed last week at South Louisiana Community College, where fake snow outside the Devalcourt Building gave the Lafayette campus an incongruous December ambiance in mid-June. While the production is filming in Lafayette, Lighthouse Pictures reached out to the college’s digital media program, using several students as interns while the production is filming in Lafayette.
“This is a great opportunity for our students to get an inside look at the movie-making process and a chance for them to gain invaluable, hands-on experience,” said Taylor Overbey, coordinator of SLCC’s digital media program. “As Louisiana’s entertainment program continues to grow, our program at South Louisiana Community College is growing with it. We are developing three fields of study – graphic design/web design, animation, and film/video, and we have doubled our class offerings to accommodate 25 additional students starting this fall.”
“The Christmas Cupid” stars Jonathan Togo (Mystic River, CSI: Miami), Elisabeth Harnois (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, One Tree Hill), Chad Michael Collins (Sniper: Ultimate Kill, Extinct) and Sasha Jackson (The Royals, Fuller House). It is being directed by Michael Sellers.
