Taylor Sheridan, the man behind the hit series “Yellowstone” and “Landman,” is joining partners to create Texas’ largest production studio in Fort Worth, creating both industry interest and jobs.
Sheridan’s SGS Studios is partnering with Hillwood and Paramount Television to bring large-scale film and television production to the AllianceTexas development.
The project bringing Hollywood to Hillwood is being described as a cutting-edge campus with 450,000 square feet in support of four concurrent, large-scale productions.
The massive scale is a point of pride for Sheridan.
“SGS Studios isn’t just about sound stages or incentives — it’s about reclaiming the independence and grit that built this industry in the first place,” the producer said in a news release. “Texas offers something rare: the space to dream big, the freedom to build fast, and a community that still believes storytelling matters.”
Sheridan praised Ross Perot Jr., Mike Berry and the rest of the Hillwood team for partnering to build “the centerpiece for one of the most state-of-the-art studios in the business.”
SGS’s current two-building campus in Alliance is just the first project of several planned to attract Hollywood interest, offering fully HVAC-equipped and power-optimized facilities that combine sound stages, mill space, wardrobe and green screen capabilities into one operational footprint.
Filming at the campus began in March, led by Paramount and 101 Studios for the second season of “Landman.”
With more talent relocating to Texas, a business-friendly environment with a competitive film incentive program, SGS and Hillwood’s vision is to position the state as a global center for media production, said Berry, president of Hillwood.
“We are at a pivotal moment where Texas can become a global force in the film industry, and North Texas offers the location and resources to play a central role in this development,” he said in a news release. “We have the infrastructure in place to grow jobs exponentially and produce thousands of future film industry workers, and with our partners, we have already started providing training for the specialty skills this workforce sector requires.”
The partnership will begin development of the first master-planned studio campus within AllianceTexas, which will consist of a full-service, purpose-built production destination designed to anchor long-term industry growth.
These studios will be the first of several campuses planned across Hillwood’s 27,000-acre AllianceTexas development, each featuring additional sound stages, post-production suites, vendor support and scalable infrastructure.
“This partnership reflects the strength of AllianceTexas and the leadership of Fort Worth in embracing new industries and opportunity,” said Perot, chairman of Hillwood.
Perot also thanked the state’s leadership for advancing the state’s film incentive efforts in this year’s legislative session.
Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, Sheridan and Texas actors Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson and Dennis Quaid were part of the high-powered offensive that campaigned to give Texas the green light to invest $1.5 billion into the state’s film incentives program over the next decade.
The measure was signed by Gov. Greg Abbott and takes effect on Sept. 1.
“I am also especially pleased that the legislation includes added incentives for production companies to recruit and train veterans, given our long-standing commitment to supporting veterans as they transition into the civilian workforce,” Perot said.
SGS has partnered with Tarrant County College to offer job training programs in set construction, grip and electric, post-production and stage operations. To date, the programs have trained more than 150 students with continued growth anticipated to 300 students.
“Fort Worth is now the fourth largest city in Texas, and the film industry presents an exciting opportunity to fuel our growth while keeping our economy bold and diverse,” Parker said in the news release.
The SGS project received designation as a Media Production Development Zone from the city of Fort Worth in December 2024, followed by approval from the Texas Film Commission and Texas comptroller in January.
The number of people that will be employed by the productions already planned in the area is large and will continue to grow, said David Glasser, CEO of 101 Studios.
For example, Season 2 of “Landman,” which just completed shooting, had a crew count of 1,092 with 192 cast members and 2,572 extras, he said.
“Landman” is one of four shows that Sheridan’s production team plans to shoot in Texas. Also coming will be “Yellowstone”-spin-off “Madison” and “Lioness,” said Glasser. He said they expect to hire about 15,000-plus people this year.
It’s not just crew members and extras they have hired for the productions. He said they have hired police for over 1,000-man days this year.
Bob Francis is business editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at bob.francis@fortworthreport.org.
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