NASA has an agreement in place to rent out a portion of the facility to Big Easy Studios, a New Orleans film studio. This deal has been criticized by competing studios as violating NASA's rule that any deal with an outside entity must serve the agency's mission and must not compete with the private sector. NASA officials defend the agreement, stating that this helps to offset the cost of unused space on the facility and that their pricing is vetted by state and local economic development agencies to ensure it is not competing with the private market. Portions of "Ender's Game", "", and "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" were filmed at the factory.