The Austin Film Festival is here, and amongst film premiers, industry screenings, panels with show runners/writers/directors dishing inside scoops on their latest project, the conference started off with Film Texas: A New Era for Texas Production Incentives.
Earlier in the year, the Texas Senate approved SB22 which contained a whopping $1.5 billion dollars has been allocated in funding for Texas for the next 10 years. The largest the state has ever seen, making the Texas a major player in Hollywood film productions. Moderated by Drew Mayer-Oakes (film and creative industries commissioner at the El Paso Film Commission), film commissions from major cities in Texas gathered together for a breakdown of the new package and what it means for Texas going forward.
Stephanie Whallon, Texas Film Commissioner Director explained TMIIIP (Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program) and what it means for filmmakers. One of the most attractive parts of this new package is a stackable 5-25% rebate as long as you meet the basic requirements such as: 60% of production takes place in Texas, 35% cast/35% crew (separate for film & television or combined for commercial/gaming) must be valid Texas residents, and more. Topping this off, new grant awards can be stacked on this rebate capping out for a possible 31% in-state spend rebate (up from the previous 22%). Grants like Texas Heritage Grant (2.5% rebate), Faith-Based Moving Image Grant (2.5% rebate), and Texas Historic-Site Grants, and more are all a part of the new package.
The best part? The turnaround time for the rebate (after your production’s audit) is complete is around 6-9 months. Much faster than other state film commissions – which can take years.
Alongside the panel at the conference were heads and/or representatives of film commissions from cities like Austin, Houston, San Antonio, Amarillo, Corpus Christi, and El Paso (where recently Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another spent part of 2024 filming in).
Each city walking us through their competitive incentives: Austin’s 2.5% incentive on productions with a budget of at least $150,000, San Antonio’s 7.5% cash rebate on productions with at least $100,000 minimum spend, and Houston’s new local incentive of 10% on productions with at least $500,000 spent (capped out at $100K back).
It isn’t the first time we’ve seen cities within a major state pull together with incentives, but it is the first time Texas itself has made a major move within the film industry to be taken seriously as a big player in Film & Television. Can we expect major TV series like Landman or Lawmen: Bass Reeves, films like No Country for Old Men, Red Rocket, and One Battle After Another to be filmed in the big state? Only time will tell what filmmakers will dish up what Texas is serving out.
