Commentary: Incentives would let Texas be a star, set the scene in film industry
Paul Stekler, For the Express-News
April 1, 2021
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Tom Hanks and Helena Zengel star in “News of the World,” a film set in Texas but shot in New Mexico, which reaped the benefits.Universal Pictures
In the recently released movie “The News of the World,” Tom Hanks and a young girl take a perilous journey across Texas in 1870. It’s a lovely film. The landscape of Texas is stunningly filmed. But not a frame of it was filmed in Texas.
As the current session of the Texas Legislature heats up, it’s fair to ask how lawmakers’ past actions have helped ensure that other states like New Mexico, where that film was shot are frequent stand-ins for Texas on film. And what can be done to change the economic impact on our state.
Photo by MovieMaker
Ask anyone in the film industry, and they ll tell you that Austin is a film town. Now that s reconfirmed as it comes in at number three on
MovieMaker magazine s prestigious annual Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker list for 2021.
Austin was only edged out of the big cities category top slot by Albuquerque (with its generous production incentives, and massive new Netflix and NBC-Universal production facilities) at number one, and mega-production hub Atlanta in the runner-up slot. It jumped three spaces from last year, leaping past major production centers including Chicago, Vancouver, and Toronto.