Hollywood actors are seeing the lure of shooting films in Texas.
In May, the Texas House passed Senate Bill 22, which includes a $300 million film tax credit and goes into effect in September.
Months prior, a campaign called True to Texas released a short earlier this year featuring actors Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, Billy Bob Thornton, Renée Zellweger, and Dennis Quaid.
Taylor Sheridan, the executive producer, writer, and creator of shows like “Lioness” and “Landman,” shoots many of his shows in Texas and voiced his support for the bill. In 2024, he and Quaid testified before the Texas Senate Finance Committee, where they pushed for an increase in film incentives.
“They saw the economic value, and Sheridan and the actors that understand the film business made a good case as to how it could benefit, and there's a lot of production companies and post production companies that want to build out in Texas,” Entertainment consultant Kathryn Arnold told KNX News’ Karen Adams.
She added that the popularity of Sheridan’s shows certainly helped the cause.
“With the advent of both the Sheridan shows, which we're calling now the ‘Sheridan Effect,’ if you will, and the popularity in Western and big open spaces and getting a diversity in storytelling, it makes sense that Texas wants to take advantage of all the filming that's happening there and provide resources for more filmmakers to come,” she said.
Want to get caught up on what's happening in SoCal every weekday afternoon? Click to follow The L.A. Local wherever you get podcasts
As for whether Texas will become a competitor for California, Arnold says it’s unlikely.
“This isn't anything new,” she said.
Earlier this month, California doubled its film tax credit to $750 million to make it more competitive with states and countries luring productions away from Hollywood.
Follow KNX News 97.1 FM
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok
