An economic boom is on the way to Baton Rouge because of the fascination with “Twilight.” Pre-production for the final movies is underway, and the buzz over vampires and werewolves is growing.

Everyone is talking about “Twilight” coming to town, but most people in the Baton Rouge movie business won’t talk about it.

“For confidentiality reasons, we can’t talk specifics about productions that we’re dealing with,” said Patrick Mulhearn, Director of Studio Operations at Celtic Studios.

“Well, there’s not too much I can say about the details of ‘Twilight,’” said Chris Stelly, Director of Film Industry Development with the Louisiana Economic Development.

While the movie’s publicist will only say the “when” for production kickoff is late this fall, a commercial real estate agent says one of his lease properties is where pre-production is in full swing.

“‘Twilight’ is going to do most of their production in Baton Rouge indoors, so they are leasing part of the building for offices, art studio, etc.,” said Mark Hebert with Kurtz & Hebert Commercial Real Estate.

That building is the old Coca Cola plant on Airline Highway. It’s across the street from Celtic Studios, where the film “The Big Valley” is just ramping up, and the production for “Battle: Los Angeles” recently wrapped. Whether or not “Twilight’s” last installment, “Breaking Dawn,” is coming to Celtic, the studio says big bucks follow big projects.

“Each production is like a small army, so you’re having to feed a small army, you’re having to house them, you’re having to entertain them,” said Mulhearn.

In the case of “Twilight,” Baton Rouge will also benefit from the twi-hards.

“What you’ll see is much like what ‘Steel Magnolias’ did for Natchitoches,” said Stelly. “People go to Natchitoches to this day to see the house in ‘Steel Magnolias.’”

The Baton Rouge area is counting on it.

“‘Twilight,’” said Stelly, “it’s gonna be a great addition to our cannon.”

“Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn” is being filmed as two separate movies, with the first slated to hit theatres next November.

We’re all TV fans here, Zappers, but just how low would you go to get the attention of your favorite leading man?

Zap2it was on the scene in Vancouver at Creation Entertainment’s Salute to “Supernatural” on August 29, where stars of the CW’s horror show mingled with fans. Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki have always been vocal about thanking their considerably obsessed admirers.

“The fans of Supernatural’ are pretty cool. They’re not crazy ‘Twilight’ fans. They actually have some self-respect,” Ackles jokes. “I think we’re lucky in that aspect.”

Jensen may want to be extra-nice to those “Twilight” obssessors, because he’s likely to face their wrath when “Supernatural’s” latest vampire episode – titled “Live Free or Twi-Hard” airs this fall.

Though Ackles and Padalecki may not have reached Edward Cullen levels of adulation yet, they have had their fare share of disturbing fan experiences. “I’ve gotten some pretty interesting presents in the mail,” Ackles admits. He sighs. “God love them, my parents receive stuff.”

Addressing his fans, he says, “I’m sure none of you are, but — look. Don’t send my parents stuff. Especially spells. With, like… used underwear.”

Padalecki, always ready with a retort, pipes up, “I sent it anonymously though, and the underwear was just slightly used. Used sounds so bad. They were loved.”

For the most part, the guys say that their fan encounters have been pleasant. They credit “Supernatural” creator Eric Kripke for not selling out the show.

“This isn’t a show that’s out there to be famous or to elicit more response from certain demographics,” Padalecki says. “We have a very strong creator, and Kripke stayed true. We had offers from Coca-Cola who wanted to put stuff in the episodes, and he was like ‘No, I want to stay true to my story, true to my characters.’”

As much as we’re happy with the show’s lack of commercialization – give or take a few well-placed cell-phone GPS plugs – we wouldn’t mind seeing more of its stars. Padalecki says we shouldn’t hold our breath for that – he and Ackles aren’t interested in being commodities for the sake of ratings.

“You’re not going to see Jensen and Jared on the red carpet of some body spray,” he explains. “That way, people who are fans of us are fans of our work. They’re not like ‘Oh my god, I think I’ve seen you on the cover of something! Aren’t you famous or something?’ So the fans we meet say, ‘I dig your show, I dig your work,’ as opposed to… ‘Let me smell your used underwear.’”

prodweek:

“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn” has opened up their Vancouver production offices at North Shore Studios. #TSBD

Recently, Summit Entertainment, the studio behind the highly lucrative film series The Twilight Saga, announced that filming for the franchise’s final chapter, Breaking Dawn, will partially take place in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A source within the Louisiana Film Commission has disclosed to me that members of the Breaking Dawn production crew have already scouted out the location they are planning to use for the film; which the studio is releasing in two parts.

The scene will be the final confrontation between the Cullen clan, who are joined by the Quileute wolf pack and their friends, and the Volturi. The scene, most of which is taken directly from the novel, has been extended to include several physical fights. It is expected that many Twilight fans will be flocking to Louisiana when the studio begins filming in the area; which is why the exact area the production team has decided on is being kept tightly under wrap.

Breaking Dawn Part 1 is scheduled for theatrical release November 18th, 2011.

The paparazzi situation has long been out of control.

On Tuesday, the California Assembly took action.

Legislators overwhelmingly approved a bill that will hit reckless photographers with harsh penalties including possible imprisonment.

According to the legislation, photographers who break traffic laws or interfere with the operation of a celebrity’s car can receive a maximum $5,000 fine and one year imprisonment.

After making its way through the Assembly and Senate this summer, a modified version passed Tuesday’s reconfirmation vote 43-13.

Now the state’s governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger – himself a victim of paparazzo pests — must sign the act into law.

“We feel this new law will improve public safety in general and hopefully prevent anyone else from getting hurt,” said Paparazzi Reform Initiative founder Sean Burke.

Celebrities including Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon have supported the measure, and with good reason considering recent events.

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart had to flee paparazzi who weaved through Los Angeles traffic, endangering the stars and other motorists.

Lindsay Lohan’s first tweet after rehab took on photographers who hounded her as she drove.

Paparazzi badgered January Jones into a minor accident, provoked Alexander Skarsgard and took invasive shots of Tori Spelling’s toddler, among other offenses. In general, photographers indifferent to decency have far more entitled than the celebs they accuse of bad behavior.

Gossip Cop is thrilled to see California take steps toward curbing the paparazzi menace.

Tuesday is the 13th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death in an accident blamed on swarming photographers. Hopefully, stronger legislation and harsher penalties against paparazzi will help to ensure that an often dangerous tabloid culture doesn’t claim more victims.

Thanks, @Uchiland!

Thanks, @Uchiland!

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@thefablife would like to challenge Robert Pattinson to a push up contest, b/c even if we lose we still win, ya know? #buffward about 2 hours ago via HootSuite

Follow @thefablife because they love Rob!

Thank you @Uchiland!

MTV is reporting Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber’s people are not happy with the unauthorized comics,

It’s been a busy afternoon in the comics world, folks.Earlier today, we brought you an exclusive preview of “Fame: Lady Gaga 2,” the sequel to Bluewater Comics’ recent, unauthorized biography of the popular musician. Just a few hours later, BleedingCool.com reported that the publisher was sent cease-and-desist orders from licensing attorney Kenneth Feinswog on behalf of his clients, Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber (the subject of another bio-comic hitting shelves in October).

In light of the report, MTV News reached out to Bluewater publisher Darren G. Davis, who confirmed receipt of the cease-and-desist orders and offered his official response to the report and paperwork.

“We are 100% within our First Amendment rights,” Davis told MTV News. “We knew our rights on this before we jumped into the biography world. These are 100% biographies on their lives.”

For those who haven’t been following along at home, Bluewater has made a name for itself publishing both original comic book series (often involving celebrity creators or licensed properties) as well as unauthorized biographies of pop culture celebrities and other public figures. Previous subjects have included “Twilight” actors Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, musician Taylor Swift, and “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling.

Last year, Bluewater purchased the right to reprint “Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics,” a line of unauthorized biography comics published by Revolutionary Comics in the 1990s. The series was similarly targeted with a trademark infringement lawsuit when it published a comic offering the unauthorized biography of pop band New Kids On The Block. Feinswog represented the band’s licensing and merchandising interests in that case as well.

In the Revolutionary Comics case, U.S. District Judge John S. Rhoades eventually ruled in favor of the publisher, stating that “the First Amendment may trump any claim that the plaintiffs have for trademark infringement.”

According to Davis, Bluewater’s current line of biography comics are similarly protected.

“We reach out to all the celebrities and some choose to work with us and some do not,” he told MTV News. “If they do choose to work with us, we donate ads and money to a nonprofit of their choice. We offered the same deal to Bieber’s people.”

“These are not-poster books and as it was explained to the licensing lawyer, Kenneth Feinswog, it tells the story of [Bieber's] life in 22 pages,” he continued. “We offered to send him a copy of the book before it went to print. We have been offered deals with poster books, sticker books and we had to turn them down because we know we do not have the rights to that. But doing an unauthorized biography we are in full within our rights.”

As for why he feels the company is being targeted, Davis has his own ideas about why unauthorized biography comics have returned to the legal spotlight.

“It feels like they are doing this because our comic book got the same amount of press as their book, ‘Justin Bieber: First Step 2 Forever,’” said Davis. “Both are being released the same month, as well as four other Bieber books. We chose [to publish a book about] Justin Bieber because of how he is changing the music industry. This was a kid that posted his songs on YouTube to share with his family and became a superstar from that. This is a great story to inspire kids.”

Davis went on to name off a long list of other unauthorized biographies of the pop star already or soon-to-be published, claiming the Bluewater comic “is no different from these books.”

In the initial report regarding the legal scuffle, it’s indicated that the attorney for Bieber and Lady Gaga “likens Bluewater’s comics to be more akin to a bootleg album or poster, and thus they’re actionable on trademark and intellectual property and likeness rights.” The report claims that Feinswog plans to base his case on recent court rulings such as “Johnny and Edgar Winter VS DC Comics/Jonah Hex, and the Todd McFarlane/Spawn/Tony Twist lawsuit.”

In a statement to MTV News, “Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics’ co-creator Jay Sanford offered up his own take on how these prior court rulings related to both the prior Revolutionary Comics case and the current allegations against Bluewater.

“The other case Feinswog’s letter refers to is when Johnny and Edgar Winter tried to sue DC over two albino ‘Jonah Hex’ characters who looked like them and had similar names,” said Sanford. “Feinswog tries to say that DC only dodged damages by virtue of the character being substantially changed from the real-life Winter Bros.”

“The other thing to note is [Feinswog's] citation of Doe v. TVI Cablevision,” he continued. “This is the famous ‘Todd McFarlane vs. Tony Twist’ case, wherein a bad guy character in ‘Spawn’ has a name and likeness similar to a famous hockey player. In the comic, he’s a very bad guy — so the lawsuit was about defamation, not bio rights. The comic made it look like McFarlane — a big hockey fan — was saying this famous hockey player was like some kind of mob thug.”

As for the next step, Davis said he’s confident in Bluewater’s right to produce the unauthorized biography comics.

“Our lawyer is in contact with Mr. Feinswog,” he said.

MTV News has reached out to Feinswog and the licensing interests for Bieber and Lady Gaga for comment. Keep it locked to Splash Page for more news as it develops.

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I wonder if Robert’s people will file the same action?  Maybe he agreed to work with Bluewater and donate some of the proceeds to charity? We are looking into it!