The state of Texas has increased funding for its production incentive programme to $300m every two years for the next decade and boosted grant percentages for lower budget films and TV programmes.
A bill calling for the increase passed into law on Monday (June 23) after being approved by the state legislature earlier this month. Texas’ Republican governor Greg Abbott could have either signed the bill or vetoed it, but instead opted to do neither and simply allow it to become law.
Funding for the programme, which offers grants rather than tax credits, has previously varied but was boosted to $200m for the 2024-2025 biennium. However Texan industry figures including Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson and writer-producer Taylor Sheridan have recently been lobbying for a bigger boost in order to make the southern US state more competitive for production work with states such as Georgia, Louisiana and New Mexico. The original version of the bill that has now become law had called for funding of $500m every two years.
Projects that have recently shot in Texas include Paramount+ streaming series Landman and Paul Thomas Anderson’s upcoming Warner Bros feature One Battle After Another.
Under the programme’s new rules, which take effect September 1 and remain in force until 2035, grants for features and TV productions will start at 5% of in-state spending for projects spending $250,000 or more and rise to 25% for those spending $1.5m or more. The top percentage under the current programme is 20% for projects with in-state spending of at least $3.5m.
The required percentage of Texas-resident cast and crew, currently at 55%, will be 35% for the programme’s first two years and increase to 50% from 2031. Projects will have to film 60% in the state.
Uplifts will include 2.5% boosts for rural filming, faith-based projects and “Texas heritage” projects, but the total grant for a single project will be capped at 31% of in-state spending. And according to the bill, administrators “may deny an application because of inappropriate content or content that portrays Texas or Texans in a negative fashion.”
In a Texas Film Commission email director Stephanie Whallon said the passing of the legislation “recognises the value of high-quality media productions created in Texas and exported to the nation and the world, furthering the power of the Texas brand.”
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