Fantastic news for Texans who enjoy movies and television!
The Texas House approved Senate Bill 22, which aims to boost the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program’s financing and attract more film and television productions to the Lone Star State.
In an effort to keep more projects in the state and support local talent, organizations like Media for Texas (MFT) have united behind the measure and are pushing for an increase in state incentives and in-state productions.
In a joint statement, MFT co-founders Chase Musselwhite and Grant Wood remarked, “Even though the bill’s funding was reduced from the original $500 million to $300 million, this remains a landmark investment in the future of media production across the state.” “The vote today gives us great confidence that SB22 will soon reach Governor Abbott’s desk for final approval, though there are still a few steps left to take.”
SB 22’s author, Senator Joan Huffman, claims that the funds used to purchase Texas goods and labor will result in rebates for qualified Texans.
In April, Huffman stated, “[It] gives certainty to the industry and the investors who want to bring these great jobs to Texas.” “Everything is based in Texas, and it must have an impact on the state of Texas.”
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This is not to argue that movies are never produced in Texas, but consider recent productions such as Hit Man, which starred Austin resident Glen Powell, and The Iron Claw, which starred Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White and was about the legendary professional wrestling family the Von Erichs. Despite being critically praised and set in Texas, both films were, strangely, shot in Louisiana.
As Musselwhite said to KPRC 2 earlier this month, “it really is pushing to get people to tell their stories all across the state and not just focusing on our cities.” This bill will offer you an extra boost if you’re shooting outside of a city. “We love our cities, and they’ll always have production there, but I think also filmmakers gravitate towards Texas because we have such a vast diversity of landscapes, people, and communities.”
“We don’t necessarily want our state to be reduced to a center of production. We’ve seeing it occur in Georgia, New York, Jersey, and other places where they’re providing services to a specific business,” Wood continued. “We would like to see our state develop into a completely enclosed industry where projects are funded, distributed, manufactured, and completed entirely within our boundaries.”
The plan to invest $2.5 billion in state funds over the next ten years into a fund to bring more movies and TV series to Texas was passed by the Senate back in April.
Cofounders Wood and Musselwhite believe this most recent action is merely another way to honor the work done by local storytellers.
In a joint statement on Monday, they said, “This victory belongs to every crew member, storyteller, entrepreneur, and advocate who believes in the power of Texas-made media.” We’re happy to report that this is only the start. Texas is the film industry’s future. “Come and watch it.”
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