HOUSTON – Great news for TV and film lovers in Texas!
Senate Bill 22, which is working to increase funding for the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program and bring more movie and TV show productions to the Lone Star State, was passed by the Texas House.
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Groups like Media for Texas (MFT) have rallied around the bill by working to increase state incentives as well as in-state productions to ensure more projects remain in the state, while also supporting local talent.
“While the bill’s funding was adjusted from the original $500 million to $300 million, this remains a landmark investment in the future of media production across the state,” MFT co-founders Chase Musselwhite and Grant Wood said in a joint statement. “There are a few final steps ahead, but today’s vote gives us strong confidence that SB22 will soon make its way to Governor Abbott’s desk for final approval.”
According to Senator Joan Huffman, who authored SB 22, this would create rebates for eligible Texas residents with the money spent to hire Texas labor and goods.
“[It] gives certainty to the industry and the investors who want to bring these great jobs to Texas,” Huffman said in April. “It’s all Texas-based, and it all has to be tied to impact in the state of Texas.”
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This isn’t to say films aren’t ever made in Texas but take into account recent movies like Hit Man starring Glen Powell, an Austin native, or The Iron Claw about the iconic professional wrestling family the Von Erichs, starring Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White. Both films are set in Texas and are critically acclaimed, but ironically, were filmed in Louisiana.
“It really is pushing to get people to tell their stories all across the state and not just focusing on our cities,” Musselwhite told KPRC 2 earlier this month. “We love our cities, they’ll always have production there, but I think also filmmakers gravitate towards Texas because we have such a vast diversity of landscapes and people and communities, and so this bill will give you an extra uplift if you’re shooting outside of a city."
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“We don’t necessarily want to see our state only become a production hub. We’ve seen that happen in Georgia, New York, Jersey, all over the place where they’re servicing a particular industry elsewhere,” Wood added. “We wanna see our State become a fully enclosed industry where projects are financed, distributed, produced, made, everything from start to finish right here within our borders."
Back in April, the Senate approved the plan to infuse $2.5 billion in state dollars over the next decade into a fund to bring more films and TV shows to Texas.
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And this latest step, cofounders Musselwhite and Wood say, is just another way to show appreciation for the work created by local storytellers.
“This victory belongs to every crew member, storyteller, entrepreneur, and advocate who believes in the power of Texas-made media,” they concluded in their joint statement Monday. “We’re proud to say: this is just the beginning. The future of film is Texas. #ComeAndFilmIt”
Learn more about Media For Texas by visiting their website. You can also stay up to date with their latest news by following them on Instagram.