TXMPA Lobby Day 2009 was a long day that began with a 7:30 AM rally on the steps of the Texas Capitol. What a sight! Hundreds of film industry professionals and business people who benefit from a thriving film industry, many dressed in red, answered the call of the TXMPA and showed up for lobby [...]

FROM: Drew Mayer-Oakes, TXMPA Legislative Committee We are fast approaching the Texas Motion Picture Alliance Lobby Day for 2009. Thank you for your participation last session – we need your help again. If you are able to volunteer again, the TXMPA needs you! Lobby Day is March 4th, with orientation and training for new team [...]

Here is an excerpt of a recent article from the Austin Business Journal that offers a bit of positive news for the local film industry The full article can be found HERE: Friday, December 5, 2008 New action in local film sector No. 1 ranking in movie magazine lures producers Brady Anderton and Ben Hurst [...]

This is a partial list of signatory productions and productions that have begun but not completed the SAG signatory process. There are some productions missing from this list: ALABAMA MOON which is prepping to shoot in the New Orleans area (Covington) and is being directed by Tim McCanlies, is not on this list. Nor is [...]

It’s been said there are no small parts…only small actors. Well, that’s not really true. There ARE small parts. I know. I’ve done my share of them and will likely do more, Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise. Last year I had the pleasure of doing a decidedly small role in a project called [...]

ACTING OUT of STATE by Craig Berlin Founding Board Member (Retired) Texas Motion Picture Alliance  http://www.txmpa.org Acting is something close to my heart. Talent does not guarantee success and even though I did a lot of acting in high school and college, I opted to go behind the camera as a career because it felt [...]

Here’s an excellent article on state film incentives from Indy.com In Texas we are HOPING to get the legislature to increase our incentive from the current dead in the water 5% to a comparatively modest 15%. We are hoping that the existing infrastructure will make 15% more competitive. So far, 15% hasn’t primed the pump [...]

The following columm appears in The Dallas Morning News Online 08:49 AM CDT on Friday, July 25, 2008 By JOE O’CONNELL / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News  filmnewsbyjoe at yahoo.com Don Stokes skipped junior- high classes to watch Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway succumb to a spray of bullets as Bonnie and Clyde. [...]

We’re not allowed to consider shooting in any state without a competitive incentive program. Texas just isn’t in the mix. That statement by an unknown Hollywood film exec, may not be an exact quote but it’s darn close to what a few hundred members of the TXMPA were told last week in Austin. The TXMPA, [...]

Abandoning the Nest is a must read article in the Austin Chronicle by Joe O’Connell. Consider the facts: Between 1998 and 2006, Hollywood studio films had combined production in Texas of more than $530 million, averaging eight or nine films a year, according to Texas Film Commission figures. The entire year of 2007 eked out [...]