Working with a record budget surplus, lawmakers this Texas legislative session appropriated $200 million in grants to court producers to shoot films and television shows in Texas.
Last year they gave out 45 million in grants. That's perhaps the biggest bump ever, but some worry Texas is not keeping up with the Jonses.
Neighboring states, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma offer tax incentives and Sean Doherty, CEO of Sharpened Iron Studios in Amarillo says Oklahoma gave out up to $2 billion in tax credits last year.
And in New Mexico? "Netflix, when they bought Albuquerque studios in 2018 pledged to do a billion a year in production just out of that one studio complex in Albuquerque. So we're literally losing billions." Regarding the Sooner state, Doherty says "I joked with the legislators on a number of occasions, that Oklahoma beating us in film production and as a Texan that should just be considered a sin." Going further east, Georgia is hosting a whole lot of crews. "Governor Kemp about three months ago did a press release. They issued $1.3 billion in transferable tax credits last year and saw $4.4 billion in income brought into the state of Georgia and 80,000 Georgians employed. That's what we're losing."
But $200 million dollars up from $45 million is progress. And Doherty says it could and should lead to an economic impact of $700 to possibly $800 million dollars. He does believe there will be an explosion in production in Texas. "You can typically count on a three to five time return on investment." He is still hoping to get a transferable tax credit program for larger productions.
Numbers are one thing but there's something else that makes shooting in Texas special. Doherty, who was formerly involved in politics, opened Sharpened Iron Studios, a company with a Christian bent, in October the end of 2020. It's a huge space and they've taken over three quarter of Amarillo College's downtown campus with plans to eventually grow it to the size of the Paramount lot in Los Angeles. "We're going to make Amarillo the Hollywood of the High Plains."
Sound stages aside, there's plenty to shoot nearby on location, such as Palo Duro Canyon. Their first feature was, sadly, Ann Heche's last movie, What Remains. Money was budgeted to shoot in people's homes. "Not only did everyone refuse to take payment for using their homes or their businesses. We used the Randall County Courthouse and the judge sent the $550 check back to us. Two of the private homes we used, the wives made casseroles for the entire cast and crew for the nights we were filming." He says the people there are their greatest asset.
Their next feature will be about the Doolittle raid that came six months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He says Gary Sinise is interested in playing Lt. Col Doolittle.
Also in the works is Suicide Ride, a post World War 1 movie about cross country horse racing. It's called that because sometimes people died on those dangerous rides. Sean just so happens to be the brother of actress Shannon Doherty, perhaps best known for Beverly Hills 90210. She's battling stage 4 breast cancer, but Sean says she continues to work. She's about to make a movie with Liam Neesom and he wants her to star in a film he's making in development, Suicide Ride. Shannon, who rode Hunter Jumpers, can hold her own on a horse and then some and wants to work for as long as she can, which is hopefully for a long, long time.
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