Low Budgets Dominate Upcoming Texas Production Slate

Just as Friday Night Lights looks almost certain to return as part of an NBC deal with DirecTV, the CW has given the green light to Austin Golden Hour, a series pilot about a group of emergency medical technicians and emergency room doctors working frantically in the pivotal hour after a trauma in the capital city.

This and more about film projects shooting or slated to shoot in Austin are available from Joe O’Connell’s FILM NEWS column in the Austin Chronicle.

Friday the 13th is officially set to begin an eight-week shoot here April 21, from the same Platinum Dunes folks who brought you two The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remakes and The Hitcher reimagining. Marcus Nispel, the German video director who got his big-screen start directing 2003’s Chainsaw, is back at the helm for this remake with Jared Padalecki (the CW’s Supernatural) reportedly in negotiations to star as a guy investigating what really went down with that hockey-mask-wearing Jason at Crystal Lake.

Here’s a list of projects slated to shoot in Texas. This list is taken from Mona Lee’s BizOnline newsletter.

Kick the Can - Theatrical
Prayer Hour - Internet Series
Out of Hand - Theatrical
Harmony and Me - Ultra Low Budget
Radio 101 - Low Budget Modified
Borderline - Low Budget
Mindsight - Ultra Low Budget
Serenity Falls - Low Budget
Chupa- Theatrical
Friday the 13th - Theatrical
The Two Bobs- Low Budget
Easier With Practice - Low Budget
Never Enough - Low Budget Modified
Bearding Christian – Low Budget Modified
A Flag Between Two Families – Low Budget
Guys – Low Budget Modified
Behind the Palisades – Low Budget Modified
Zombie Love – Ultra Low Budget

While I’m glad to see a number of film projects upcoming, the list above is somewhat telling. Where is the impact of the film incentive legislation? What is it going to take to lure back some of the bigger budget Hollywood projects that have been given away to Louisiana and New Mexico and their much more aggressive film incentive programs?