A potential $500 million investment might significantly boost Texas' film and television sector.
Read this, homie!
When renowned TV show creator, Taylor Sheridan, presented before Texas lawmakers last autumn, he voiced his frustration about the piping hot Texas film incentives luring productions to states boasting hefty media rebates or tax credits.
"Man, I fucking wrote this badass movie called Hell or High Water, which was like my love letter to this fine state, and they shot the fucking thing in New Mexico," Sheridan griped. "They couldn't ignore that 30% rebate New Mexico offered!"
Now, a few months hopped off the calendar, a bill with star power backing it like Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson has informed the Legislature and may put Texas on the map as a formidable filming site.
Senate Bill 22 aims to pump $500 million into the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program for the next decade, a record-breaking amount. The bill also loosens some application requirements and gives investors a sense of security with the 10-year runway.
The Senate greenlit the bill in April, and it now waits for applause in the House. If all goes according to plan, the bean counters in the state budget will approve the funding for the bill when they work out the details on the latest spending plan set for the end of next month. Both versions of the bill include funding for the program, which Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican, has named a top priority for the session.
What's Good with the Texas Incentives, You Ask?
In Texas, incentives work as reimbursements for productions based on the cash they lay out in the state. More cash means bigger rewards, say the bill's admirers, highlighting the economic activity spurred by productions.
Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone spin-off 1883, for instance, shelled out approximately $440 million filming in 2021 right here in Fort Worth. That figure covers transportation, accommodation, catering, and security costs, according to the city's film commissioner, Taylor Hardy.
Supporters of the bill also claim it would draw talent back to the state.
"More Texas transplants who bolted for incentivized locales because there wasn't enough work here will return," McConaughey, the native Texan actor, told the Senate Finance Committee in March. "Because one, they'd rather live here, and two, now they can work here."
Harrelson and McConaughey also frowned for the incentives in an ad with fellow Texas actors Dennis Quaid and Renée Zellweger.
The bill bars funding for shows or films with "unsavory" material or negative depictions of Texas. A few Republicans have raised concerns that the program could shell out cash for shows containing salty language. Conservatives have also argued against using tax revenue to support productions.
"They could make movies praising William F. Buckley [a conservative commentator and public figure], and I'd dispute it," Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, asserted on March X.
As legislators iron out the details in Austin, folks in North Texas—the hotbed for Sheridan's biblical drama The Chosen and the Sheridanverse—are generally optimistic about the future prospects of the film industry.
"We're about to see a surge in productions," Hardy said.
More Money, More Projects, Bro
When Sheridan was producing Hell or High Water in 2014-15, the state's film funding was somewhat limited. Six projects searching for incentives, based on their in-state spending, would have earned grants totaling $18 million. Unfortunately, the available funding didn't stretch that far.
SB 22's gigantic fund could change that.
"More money equals more projects," Dallas Film Commissioner Katie Schuck explained. "Studios are looking for the biggest bang for their buck."
Schuck's already chatted with four feature films and about five TV series that could soon roll the cameras in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Most of these potential projects are faith-based, she shared. The latest draft of SB 22 includes a 2.5% extra incentive for projects centered on such themes.
"There's a ton of buzz," Schuck said.
What About the Indies, My Guy?
Cash can be the difference between filing a film or not for investors who put their chips on up-and-coming filmmakers.
But some in the independent film community think the incentives favor studio-backed power players the most. The incentives program is divided into three funding tiers. Budgets for most indie films typically fall around the bottom tier granting a 5% reimbursement for in-state spending. But under SB 22, the bottom tier will remain the same.
The top tier would offer an incentive rate of 25% (up from 20%) with an in-state spending requirement of $1.5 million (down from $3.5 million). The middle tier with a 10% incentive rate would apply to projects spending $1 million to $1.5 million in state.
"I wish the lower and mid range were better," Hollis said, but he supported increased overall funding.
Projects working with small budgets can operate lean. "Everybody already takes hefty rate cuts, from the top of the talent call sheet to the production assistants," said Steven Demmler, president of Dallas' South Side Studios.
Johnathan Brownlee, a Dallas-based director and producer who wrapped up a project with a $2 million budget in Buffalo, NY—where the state's tax credit incentives go as high as 40%— estimated he would have received about $500,000 in Texas incentives had he shot there.
"That's half a million dollars in difference," Brownlee stated. "So, you're telling me again I should stay here to shoot?"
Brownlee continued, "If you invest your cash in Texas and you're employing Texans, why shouldn't you get the same rate, whether you're spending half a mil or $500 mil?"
"The way you grow the industry is to support your indigenous filmmakers," Brownlee concluded. "The indie filmmaker will eventually become the big shot, right?"
Lowered Texas Talent Requirements—Not What You Think
Between 2021 and 2023, first shows needed to prove that at least 70% of their paid crew and cast had Texas residency. Critics argued this requirement diluted local talent by posing a barrier.
SB 22 would slash the current crew residency requirement from 55% to 35% the next two years, climbing gradually to 50% by 2035.
The logic goes that if the bill succeeds in attracting productions, then local talent will naturally join them, making it easier for projects to meet growing residency requirements in the future.
Workforce training development programs, like Tarrant County College's partnership with 101 Studios, could also help craft a pipeline of production talent, Hardy suggested.
Costume designer Yaa Boaa Aning moved to Dallas from LA almost a decade ago. She'd commute between the two cities for work but with a recent slowdown in Hollywood production, she found more opportunities in North Texas on Taylor Sheridan projects such as The Madison and Landman's season two.
"A lot of LA transplants take a detour to Austin because Austin used to be the Texas center of film and television," Aning said. "That narrative is shifting a little bit to North Texas."
Long-term Security for Days!
Sheridan informed Texas Senators last fall he would have filmed shows like Landman and Lioness outside D-FW had it not been for the state incentives.
Though, he still harbored beef with the program's inconsistency. The funding had ebbed and flowed in the past. In 2013, the allocation amounted to $95 million for two years, before plummeting to $32 million in 2015.
The decade-long guarantee provides studios with a sense of security for long-haul projects like much of Sheridan's output.
"Out-of-staters will think, 'We can depend on this now,'" said Red Sanders. "We'll see more infrastructure development in Texas. We'll see more studios and facilities built out."
"The program won't be subject to the whims of budget fluctuations in the next two years anymore!"
"The increased Texas film incentives, as outlined in Senate Bill 22, could attract more community-oriented projects, such as local news and sports shows, along with faith-based series and films, due to the financial benefits offered."
"With the proposed 10-year runway for the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program, independent filmmakers like Johnathan Brownlee may find it more attractive to shoot their projects in Texas, ensuring long-term security and growth for the Texas film industry."
