As the new year is right around the corner, officials with the Mississippi Film Office are expecting a record 2024.
Nina Parikh, executive director of the Mississippi Film Office, explained on a recent episode of The Gallo Show that 15 projects were on hold due to Hollywood actors and writers being on strike. Now with both groups returning to work as deals with producers and studios have been reached, Parikh said all projects should pick back up during the first quarter of 2024.
“I think we’ll see that the first quarter of 2024 is going to be incredibly busy catching up with these movies that couldn’t shoot over the last six months,” Parikh said. “There were all these projects on hold that once we got these contracts in place, they were ready to get going.”
As for what movies will be filming, Parikh was mostly mum but did give listeners a tease as to where sets will be located and what genres are working in the Magnolia State.
“What I can tell you is we can expect to see work on the Gulf Coast. We will see work in Natchez probably and central Mississippi. I believe we might have one in the Delta as well, so it’s scattered all around the state,” Parikh said.
“And it’s everything from dramas to in that creepy realm of thrillers and even maybe a little martial arts.”
As of now, all the work for 2024 is in movie productions, but Parikh added that the Mississippi Film Office is working to bring in TV series.
“We are talking to some series, so I hope those will come to fruition, but it hasn’t happened yet,” Parikh said. “I think there are some local producers who are talking about some things. There are a number of historical stories that I think might be recounted in some new series, so that’s exciting.”
In 2022, the Magnolia State saw one of its best years ever in attracting movies with over 15 feature films. 2023 was a different story as the industry saw its darkest days since the 1960s with actors and writers’ strikes lasting over 100 days each.
