WHAT MAKES TEXAS
A HOLLYWOOD DESTINATION
“TEXAS”? by Ann Marie Kennon
T
exans won't deny the #1 and #2 ranking that California and New York hold as the states with the most television and movie projects; that's where most of the movie companies live, after all. Fortunately for Texans, our state ranks number three and we don't live in either of those states. As of 2018, when data was compiled from the Internet Movie Database (IMDB.com), Texas has been the setting for 8,164 movies and shows filmed. Within Texas, the most filmed cities were Austin (2,257), Dallas (1,537), Houston (1,279), San Antonio (564), Fort Worth (331), Arlington (179), El Paso (177), Denton (137), Corpus Christi (97), and Plano (85).
WELCOME TO TEXAS On the business side, there are more than 160 Film Friendly Certified communities in Texas and the Governor's Film Friendly Texas program is working to add more. The program involves certification and marketing by the Texas Film Commission. Communities in the program receive training and guidance about media industry standards, best practices and how to effectively accommodate media production in their cities and communities. It is a valuable resource that helps maintain Texas as a premier destination for media production. Williamson County has eight certified communities.
