Fort Worth may have been built by cowboys and train connections, but its future will be defined in part by a burgeoning entertainment production industry.
“We believe that film is the next great industry in Fort Worth,” Mayor Mattie Parker declared on Thursday during her State of the City address.
“Just like cattle, railroads, energy, manufacturing and defense, it will become a part of the enduring economic development story that defines our future.”
It’s a trend that’s been particularly associated with one celebrity: the local entertainment mogul Taylor Sheridan, who recently expanded his TV universe by launching a 450,000-square-foot production hub in north Fort Worth. Scenes from his shows are also frequently shot in numerous locations around Dallas-Fort Worth.
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Parker delivered her remarks during a catered luncheon on the floor of Dickies Arena, the 14,000-seat venue west of downtown Fort Worth that hosts concerts as well as rodeos and sporting events.
The Fort Worth Chamber event was attended by hundreds of area business leaders and community leaders. It also doubled as a high-energy ceremony, complete with pop music soundtracks and various jumbotron videos, for the city’s 2025 Small Business Awards competition.
The winners included the Jordan Elizabeth Harris Foundation, a group that works to prevent suicide; Bob Moore Construction, a nearly 80-year-old general contracting company; and Pulliam Pools, which calls itself the country’s oldest pool builder.
Additional honors went to At Your Home Caregiving of Texas, The Ashton Depot, Recaro Aircraft Seating and BNSF Railway.
In her remarks, Parker, who has led the city since 2021, also highlighted Fort Worth’s ongoing population boom — earlier this year it officially passed one million residents — along with her efforts to balance the city’s books.
“Perhaps most importantly, we’ve raised the budget without raising your taxes,” she said. “We continue to be an example of a city that is growing rapidly while also maintaining the highest levels of fiscal responsibility.”
She also highlighted recent initiatives on homelessness, emergency services, maternal health and land protection, as well as the city’s recent hiring of a new police chief.
But the day’s biggest theme — reiterated with multiple video montages and industry-themed props lining the event’s entrance — was Cowtown’s growing film and television sector. According to figures Parker cited, in the last decade the industry has created more than 50,000 jobs in the city, and infused nearly $1 billion into the local economy.
Photos: Fort Worth Mayor boasts stories coming to life at State of the City address
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Landman, the smash-hit television series starring Billy Bob Thornton and created by Sheridan, may be the most well-known production to recently film in the city.
Yet Fort Worth has also recently served as the production location for 1883, a Yellowstone prequel series that filmed in the city’s famous Stockyards; the critically acclaimed indie film Miss Juneteenth; and the spy series Lioness, among others.
In August, the city also became home to SGS Studios, Sheridan’s new production campus.
The Thursday event was capped by a panel discussion moderated by WFAA host Marc Istook and featuring Parker and Sheridan’s business partner David Glasser, the CEO of the production company 101 Studios, who praised what he described as the city’s accessibility and welcoming attitude.
“I’ve experienced filming everywhere that you can imagine,” Glasser said. “This city just opens the door, whether it is crew, local city officials, police department, fire department, local residents.”
“We have just seen this unbelievable sort of community, both on the official side and the residents’ side,” he continued, “just saying, ‘Yes, we want you here. We want to be a part of this, and how can we help grow that business?’”