Written by new-contact on Aug 29, 2014. Posted in Incentive News

Warner Bros exec advocates stronger filming incentives for Texas

A studio executive at Warner Bros has advocated a larger fund for the filming incentive programme in Texas. Michael Walbrecht is Entertainment Vice President at the studio and said making more money available would help boost the state’s profile in the US and attract larger shoots.

“The Texas moving industry incentive program…is not as competitive as many other jurisdictions,” Walbrecht told a House Select Committee, according to a report in the Houston Chronicle.

“Increasing the overall budget provided each year would probably draw more large-budget feature films. Without the incentive these productions would probably not be able to choose Texas.”

The Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program offers a top incentive rebate of up to 20% for productions spending at least USD 3.5 million in the state, with lower payments available for shoots that spend less. Around USD 32 million is currently available to filmmakers in the Texas film fund, but while the state has had local success with shows like the rebooted Dallas, the short-lived Revolution and the TV adaptation of vampire road movie From Dusk Till Dawn (above), the annual fund is not currently enough to broaden the state’s appeal.

Eastern neighbour Louisiana offers a much stronger filming incentive and was used as a stand-in for Texas in the Oscar-winning movie The Dallas Buyers Club. To the west, New Mexico also offers better financial conditions and a higher profile since the international success of Breaking Bad.

Texas complicates its filming incentive process by refusing to support shoots that contain “inappropriate content”, a somewhat vague term that can be off-putting to producers.

(Photo: Robert Rodriguez/El Rey Network)