Funds to Incentivize the Movies
On Monday night, the Texas Senate Committee on Finance gave the green light to Senate Bill 22. This bill is all about cranking up the cash Texas offers to bring in film and TV projects. The vote was totally in favor at 11-0, setting up for the full Senate to review it soon.
The committee heard from a surprise guest, Matthew McConaughey, who spoke up for SB 22 just before the vote. This bill plans to set aside $500 million every two years for the “Moving Image Industry Incentive Fund” over the next decade. That’s more than double what was put aside last year when lawmakers bumped up the tax incentive to $200 million.
If this bill goes through, the Texas film office could hand out grants to movie productions spending at least $500,000 in Texas. That’s a step up from the current rule which is $250,000. Also, the bill, led by Sen. Joan Huffman from Houston, is looking to lower the Texas residency requirement for grants to 35% for the next two years, planning to gradually raise it to 50% by 2031. At the moment, productions can only snag grants if 55% of their crew, including actors and extras, are Texas residents.
Adriana Cruz, who runs the Texas Economic Development and Tourism Office, shared at the hearing that the film industry has created 189,000 jobs for locals and brings back an impressive 469% return on investment for the state. That means for every dollar given in grants, the industry gives back $4.69 to the economy.
Actors speak in Favor of the Bill
During the hearing, McConaughey and another well-known Texas actor, Woody Harrelson, also spoke. McConaughey shared about their work on “Brothers,” a show filmed in Dripping Springs. He mentioned that to keep the production in Texas, both he and Harrelson had to take a 15% cut in their salaries to avoid moving the filming to Georgia. He feels it’s a small price to pay to boost the Texas economy and develop the local film scene.
McConaughey also hopes to expand the benefits of the bill by investing in local training programs. He thinks this starts with partnerships between community colleges and local universities to teach skills like set design, hair and makeup, special effects, and lighting. With this approach, he believes Texas can grow its own successful film industry.
He said, “If we pass SB 22 and train a self-sustaining workforce, we won’t just fill up the production facilities we have now but we’ll need to build more.”
The committee also heard from Chad Gunderson, a producer of “The Chosen,” a series about Jesus mostly filmed in Texas. He mentioned they’ve spent around $150 million on the show, with more than half of that staying in Texas.
Gunderson pointed out that the state needs more resources, especially crew and sound stages, and that state incentives could make that happen. He added that a big reason projects skip Texas is the uncertainty about funding over the next couple of years, so this long-term investment is definitely a step in the right direction.