Hollywood South is expanding in a new direction. A new eco-friendly trailer just unveiled in New Orleans is available for A-listers and others involved in the film industry.
The new Ecoluxe trailer was set back inside the darkened Second Line studios in the Warehouse District. A red carpet leading to the front door was a clue that this tricked-out trailer was the star.
The 43-foot-long unit runs on solar and thermal power, has state-of-the-art electronics and is quiet.
Andre Champagne is chief executive officer of Hollywood Trucks, a company he founded in Louisiana in 2007 with five vans and two trucks. Now it has a fleet of 400 vehicles.
“We’re sitting right now in the world’s first eco-friendly studio, sitting inside of that studio in the world’s first 100 percent clean-energy talent trailer, both out of Louisiana, which is remarkable,” he said.
The talent in that trailer has included Brad Pitt, who’s famous locally for the energy-efficient homes erected in the Lower 9th Ward by his Make It Right Foundation.
Champagne says he’s been working with two different companies to help design the Ecoluxe for about two years.
“Historically you could operate LED lights and other things from solar, but the air conditioners were always some of the hardest areas to really, ‘Get off the grid.’ A couple of different panels on the roof of this particular unit allows it to run 100 percent off the grid,” he said.
He hopes reducing energy bills for production companies will attract more projects to Louisiana and other filming locations.
