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Let's say you're a Hollywood director. You've already done the blockbuster thing, helming a trio of successful caper films starring the likes of Brad Pitt and George Clooney. And you've already made Oscar history, by being one of a very short list of people nominated twice for best director in the same year.

What do you do next?

The short answer: pretty much whatever you want. And for Steven Soderbergh, the Baton Rouge-raised director of "Traffic," "Erin Brockovich" and the "Ocean's Eleven" movies who burst onto the scene in 1989 with his indie sensation "sex, lies and videotape," that means getting back in touch with his indie roots -- and his Louisiana roots.

"That's where I came from, and it's always nice to return to that, because you're reconnected with the enthusiasm of the amateur," Soderbergh said. "For me, the associations of making a movie with a small crew on a short schedule are all positive. That's how I made my short films; that's how I made my first feature."

That's also how he made his most recent film, the forthcoming "The Girlfriend Experience," which he will bring to New Orleans this week with his previous film, the historical epic "Che," for a pair of screenings and discussions to benefit the New Orleans Film Society.

The rewards of telling such a story in such a small, almost experimental, way extend beyond mere nostalgia. For Soderbergh, it also is a sort of Petri dish, in which he can tinker with filmmaking techniques -- one of his favorites being the use of nonprofessional actors, which he's been doing on and off for about 10 years now -- in a relatively low-risk environment. If they don't work, well, lesson learned. If they do work, however, some of those techniques can be adapted for bigger-budget films.

Case in point: "Moneyball," Soderbergh's big-screen adaptation of author Michael M. Lewis' best-selling book about Oakland A's General Manager Billy Beane and his analytical approach to building a team in today's competitive environment. Brad Pitt will star, but the film also will be heavily populated by nonprofessional actors.

"He's playing Billy Beane, and then I'm casting a lot of real people around him," Soderbergh said.

By the time cameras start rolling on the project in about six weeks, roughly two-thirds of the 2002 A's will have been enlisted to appear in the film. Among them: sluggers David Justice and Jeremy Giambi, catcher-turned-first-baseman Scott Hatteberg, reliever Billy Koch, manager Art Howe, pitching coach Rick Peterson. "To have them around all the time that you're doing it is just going to give it an energy that's unique," Soderbergh said.