SAN ANTONIO – Texas lawmakers passed a $1.5 billion film incentive bill with the support of homegrown filmmakers and even some of Hollywood’s new and old guard.
Senate Bill 22 increases funding for the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program (TMIIIP) from $200 to $300 million per biennium. Control of the fund will be housed within Governor Greg Abbott’s office, specifically the Music, Film, Television and Multimedia Office.
Funding from the 88th session saw lawmakers allocate $200 million to the TMIIIP.
A “historic” funding structure model will equate to $1.5 billion through 2035, according to a City of San Antonio news release.
The legislation was named one of Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick’s priorities early in the session.
Patrick initially proposed $500 million, and the Texas Senate signaled its approval. However, deliberations in the House lowered that total to the final $300 million.
While Abbott did not sign SB 22, it became law without his signature on June 22.
A ‘new era of Texas film’
Advocates of the bill, such as Media for Texas, mounted concerted networking and media pushes to get in front of lawmakers’ eyes.
The nonprofit, founded by filmmakers Chase Musslewhite and Grant Wood, spent much of the session lobbying lawmakers; they even notched homegrown Hollywood actors such as Woody Harrelson and Glen Powell in social media advertisements.
The pair said now, Media for Texas, plans to be the “go-to community resource” to help plug resources for those needing film assistance in the state.
Wood, in a phone call with KSAT on Wednesday, said the group had “a lot of ideas on the plate” around workforce development.
Even those outside of Austin signaled their support for the legislation.
Hill Country Studios, a planned 820,000-square-foot movie studio outside San Marcos, said in an Instagram post it was “proud to have played a part” in getting the law passed.
The studio was set to open in August of this year; however, its construction timeline is muddled, as photos taken by KSAT of the site showed an empty field earlier this year.
An Instagram post from Media for Texas on Tuesday featured Hill Country Studios and a slew of other entities, which, according to the group, “made possible the new era of Texas film.”
San Antonio ‘poised for a major leap forward’
San Antonio Film Commissioner Christine Hill previously said the commission would be “well-positioned” to benefit from SB 22’s momentum, specifically through its own local incentive, the state’s most competitive, Hill said.
The city’s Supplemental Film Incentive (SSAI), funded by the City of San Antonio’s hotel occupancy tax, offers up to a 7.5% rebate on eligible local expenditures, the news release said.
When combined with the state’s incentive, San Antonio productions could receive an incentives package up to 38.5%, according to the release.
“With the passage of this new state law, San Antonio is poised for a major leap forward in our local film industry,” said Krystal Jones, director of the Department of Arts & Culture.
Last year, San Antonio saw production for the “Yellowstone” prequel, “1923″ close parts of Broadway in downtown for shooting.
Those film shoots, Media for Texas says, do more than support the projects; they can also support the local economy, including hotels and restaurants.
The San Antonio Arts & Culture Department, which oversees the film commission, stated in February that it had issued 416 film permits on city property in fiscal year 2024. A 72% increase from the prior fiscal year, according to an email from Stacey Norton, film and music administrator for the city.
In a text message to KSAT, Paul Ardoin, the film program director at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said the bill was “significant” for incentivizing productions coming to the city.
“It comes at an opportune time to take advantage of the generation of young artists, technicians, and talent being trained by UTSA’s Film/Media program and the Dramatic Arts program we’re launching this fall,” Ardoin said. “We expect more and more productions to recognize San Antonio’s wealth of great locations, storytellers, and collaborators in the coming months and years.”
The legislation will consider projects for funding for a slew of reasons, including whether projects employ veterans as crew members.
Projects would qualify for a Texas veterans grant “if at least five percent of the production crew, actors, and extras for the project are Texas residents who served in and were honorably discharged” from the armed forces, according to the bill’s text.
“The large contingent of talented veterans in Military City USA will offer additional incentive, thanks to the Texas Veterans Grant portion of the bill,” Ardoin said.
This addition — a 2.5% boost to incentives — existed in the former TMIIIP program, but was codified as law under the new additions, Musslewhite said.
The bill has drawn criticism during and after the session, both for its price tag and the structure of its content review, including language suggesting incentives be given to “faith-based” projects and a project’s “current and likely future effect on the promotion of family values.”
Criticisms around content review structure
The 17-page document outlining the legislation includes guidelines for the Music, Film, Television and Multimedia Office’s planned review of potential projects eligible for funding.
“(The office) may deny an application because of inappropriate content or content that portrays Texas or Texans in a negative fashion, as determined by the office.”
The bill allows the office to review scripts during the grant application process.
“The office shall consider general standards of decency and respect for the diverse beliefs and values of the citizens of Texas when determining whether to act on or deny a grant application.”
Musslewhite, while pointing to projects filmed partially in Texas such as “The Chosen,” said there was “nothing in the (bill’s) language that actually determines if a film has to be faith-based.”
Although some critics of the bill worry that the review structure could hinder projects deemed not appropriate by the standards set by the state.
Texas Policy Research (TPR), a research organization offering legislative analysis, described the content review aspect as “the most contentious part” of the legislation in an update posted to its website last month.
The office, according to the bill’s text, would weigh productions based on aspects such as “the promotion of family values” and “whether the project portrays Texas and Texans in a positive fashion.”
“While no producer is guaranteed state support, embedding ideological gatekeeping into the grant system places pressure on creators to self-censor or align their messages with political preferences,” a TPR bill analysis reads.
The new TMIIIP program passed this month will officially take effect on Sept. 1, Wood said.
It runs through a 10-year cycle before reaching its “sunset” in August 2025, at which point it will revert to the former program.
However, both Musslewhite and Wood expect new incentives in subsequent legislative sessions to further extend that period.
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