Hollywood Could Be Coming to Texas

Hollywood in Texas? This Bill Could Make That Happen as Southern States Fight for Productions https://t.co/J6kSNHnuDR

— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) March 12, 2023

Texas is mulling whether to throw a bigger hat into the film and TV tax incentive ring.

A bill introduced in the state legislature proposes to supplement Texas’ existing grant program with a new, uncapped scheme targeted at big-budget projects of at least $15 million. Eligible productions would get a 30 percent base transferable tax credit that could reach as high as 42.5 percent, depending on the type of project and if it shoots in economically distressed areas. Notably, compensation for talent will qualify for incentives.

The legislation introduced Tuesday is being considered as Texas’ neighboring states continue to see major money from Hollywood due to generous tax credit programs. In 2022, film and TV productions pumped more than $1.5 billion into the economies of New Mexico, Louisiana and Oklahoma. New Mexico alone saw a record $855 million. Now, Texas wants a larger piece of the action. The proposal, if passed, would launch the state into the upper tier of jurisdictions that offer film and TV tax credits, at least for mid-budget and blockbuster projects.

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Texas, there’s growing enthusiasm to augment the state’s film and TV tax incentive program on both sides of the aisle… A bill introduced in the state legislature proposes to supplement Texas’ existing grant program even more https://t.co/vKZ5t7m4aL

— Enerzoa (@enerzoa) March 16, 2023

Texas Tax Credit Bill Under Consideration Amid ‘Yellowstone’ TV Shoot – The Hollywood Reporter https://t.co/Lq61BMTSnI

— George Orwell (@OrwellsRevenge) March 17, 2023

Here’s what the Inside Hook reported:

Spend enough time watching movies and television shows and you might start to notice some recurring patterns in terms of where they were filmed. There’s the ubiquitous “Made in Georgia” tag that comes up after countless TV episodes; there can also be some surprises when one city is swapped for another – such as when The Americans found locations in New York City that resembled Washington, D.C.

Much of that comes from favorable tax credits put into place to draw film and television productions to a specific state. As The Hollywood Reporter recently noted, a number of prominent films and series set in Texas were not filmed in Texas — and the state’s government is working on addressing that.

While Texas currently has some incentives in place, The Hollywood Reporter reports that there’s bipartisan enthusiasm for increasing those considerably. The state’s Lieutenant Governor, Dan Patrick, has stated a goal of convincing Taylor Sheridan to relocate his numerous productions to the Lone Star State.

That isn’t to say that film and television tax credits are uniformly popular, however. During her run for the Democratic nomination for Governor in 2018, Cynthia Nixon ran on a platform of opposing New York’s film and television tax credits, for instance.

Is the new piece of legislation just a discreet plan for Hollywood elites to make Texas blue?