L.E. Wallace

Producer L.E. Wallace is the founder of the Riverwood Television and Motion Picture Entertainment Center (later simply named “L.E. Wallace Productions) in Hammond, Louisiana. His studio is successful despite a great deal of doubt from his peers, considering that the majority of film in New Orleans is shot on location.

Inspiration

Mormon television superstars Donny and Marie Osmond were the inspiration for the first full-scale TV-movie studio in Louisiana. Baton Rouge native L. E. Wallace got the idea after listening to a radio interview of the couple one summer morning. They were raving with excitement about the new television studio being built in Utah for the Osmonds. Wallace claimed that Marie’s excitement that day rubbed off on him. Soon thereafter, he paid a visit to the Osmonds and their new studio, and returned home with a concrete idea for his center, complete with floor plans(Seale, Jim. “Captain Video: L. E. Wallace and his Dream Studio”. Gris Gris, July 31-August 6, 1978).

Studio

Wallace’s boss, Anthony Favaro, president of the Baton Rouge company, Telefilms, allowed the company to be the launching pad for Wallace’s dream. The Riverwood Television and Motion Picture Entertainment Center is located seven miles outside Hammond on a 25 acre dairy cow pasture and cost somewhere in the range of $3-$4 million. It includes 41,000 square feet of floor space, a 16,000 square foot studio for feature films and TV specials, a 3,700 square foot area for staging TV commercials, an assembly area for props, an area for dressing and makeup, and executive offices (Seale, Jim. “Captain Video: L. E. Wallace and his Dream Studio”. Gris Gris, July 31-August 6, 1978).

Criticism 

Many filmmakers were not as optimistic as Wallace with regards to his dream studio. For one, they were not sure as to why Hammond was the site for the studio. Wallace’s reasoning was simple: the land was cheap, it was near an interstate within a short distance of New Orleans, there were some great exterior shots, and the Hammond airport was equipped for small jets, a necessity for most filmmaking big shots. Wallace was also eager to remind critics that his studio would be equipped for both video and film production, something most studios in Hollywood were not (Seale, Jim. “Captain Video: L. E. Wallace and his Dream Studio”. Gris Gris, July 31-August 6, 1978).

Although many were shocked when plans for the studio were in order, the shift in the movie industry itself served as a testament as to why the creation of a film studio in Hammond could not have been more perfect. The wave in the decentralization of entertainment production the industry was fanning out. The biggest reason for the wave was that location filming was most always cheaper on account of not needing to build sets (Seale, Jim. “Captain Video: L. E. Wallace and his Dream Studio”. Gris Gris, July 31-August 6, 1978).