Hollywood Trucks

Hollywood Trucks unveiled Wednesday to local media its first luxury talent trailer powered entirely by solar and thermal technology. Called the Celebrity, the 43-foot long fifth wheel can be used as a home or office during movie productions. Last month Hollywood Trucks President and CEO Andre Champagne lent Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie the Celebrity while they were in New Orleans attending this year’s gala for Pitt’s Make It Right charity.

The Celebrity joins Hollywood Trucks’ popular Ecoluxe line. Champagne says that the new model trailers “really launch a product that hadn’t been done before in our industry.” The Louisiana company currently has six Celebrity trailers available for rental with more being built.

“I didn’t think it was possible at first. I really didn’t,” Champagne admits.

For Champagne the launch culminates two years of research, design and implementation that rethought the standard talent trailer.

“Every part of this unit from scratch has been, even though we sourced some expert minds, designed and conceived in Louisiana,” he said.

At the moment, Hollywood Trucks plans to rent the new trailers to the entertainment industry, but is considering additional utilizations of the technology.

In addition to Pitt and Jolie, Sandra Bullock, Bruno Mars, Chris Rock have used the new Celebrity Ecoluxe. Champagne observes, “So what we’ve found is that once a production or high-profile individuals experienced it, and they enjoy it, they usually demand it.”

That group apparently includes Pitt, who used an early model Ecoluxe while he was making the Oscar-winning 12 Year’s A Slave in Louisiana.

Since founding the company in 2007, he’s focused on making entertainment transportation as environmentally friendly as possible. Just eight months ago, Champagne found the Louisiana company The Next Energy Technology, Inc., which he credits with providing the solar power technology to take the Celebrity “off the grid.” The new technology, called “the Ecoluxe system”, uses just four special solar panels and a thermal panel and a sophisticated amplification system.

“If there is readily available sunlight, it uses no fuel,” Champagne says. “We can actually generate more power than this trailer consumes.”

The amount of high tech equipment installed inside the Celebrity makes that ability quite impressive. Champagne casually notes, “You could sign onto the trailer and control it with your iPhone if you wanted.” Each unit comes equipped with Apple high speed wireless internet, high speed Direct TV HD, Sony Playstation 4, Apple TV, and a 72″ Samsung 3-D flat screen with 3-D surround sound. Air-conditioning works quite effectively and silently. The trailer starts with the push of a button and self-levels. The trailer can operate for seven to eight hours using batteries, then automatically turn on its clean energy system for an hour to recharge. If bad weather prevents power generation, a back-up system using B20 biodiesel has been installed. Even using the biodiesel system periodically, fuel savings on each unit can average 80 to 90 percent.

Champagne’s design for the Celebrity was so unique, he lobbied the units’ manufacturers into building the base model.

“We really worked very diligently maximizing square inches,” he says.

For a trailer its size, it has the largest floor plan in existence with five separate “pop out” areas.

Far from the retro feel connoted by the term “RV” and those early seasons of Breaking Bad, the interior feels sleek and contemporary. Countertops are made from unpainted, post-consumer recycled plastics; unique windows and LED lights are energy-efficient. The large, wraparound couch is covered in an eco-friendly white microfiber suede. Additionally, the white color eliminates using dyes. Champagne promises any certified-organic, fair-trade red wine spilt can be cleaned with non-toxic, biodegradable fabric cleaner. After the model arrives in Louisiana, an eight-man crew installs each patented Ecoluxe system.

While filming, talent trailers use power most of the day Champagne reports talking to a movie producer excited by the substantial savings, perhaps fifty percent of his overall fuel budget using solar/thermal powered luxury trailers. Champagne intends to fit all of his fleet with the new Ecoluxe system.

“Everyone wins with this type of environment,” he said. “The production saves money. Our company obviously has a greater demand for the units. The environment obviously wins because you’re not burning fossil fuels now. And also you really change the dynamic of how production and entertainment transportation can operate.”

The Ecoluxe announcement has been the latest phase of rapid growth for Hollywood Trucks. The company has expanded from five vans and two trucks when it began in 2007 to almost 400 vehicles today with 14 full-time employees.

“Every time we build and bring one of these into the state,” Champagne says, “that’s another union job. There’s another driver. If we have 300 of these, that’s 300 jobs.”