Properties Vol 3 2017 Film in Houston

Film in

HOUSTON

with Rick Ferguson

by Natalie de la Garza

Y

ou may not remember A Woman of Independent Means, a 1995 NBC miniseries produced by and starring Sally Field, but Rick Ferguson, executive director of the Houston Film Commission, certainly does.

The globetrotting period piece, set at the turn of the 20th century, takes Field’s Beth Steed Garner on a journey across the U.S. and on a jaunt through Western Europe, stopping in Paris, Venice and the Swiss Alps – all of which was filmed within a 70-mile radius of downtown Houston.

“Now, admittedly, the really difficult part was Switzerland, [but] we were able to pull off that huge variety of locations,” says Ferguson. “I wish more people had tuned in when it aired.”

“...And one of the things that makes our industry so appealing, and also I think headed to even more success, is our diversity.”

The Houston Film Commission has pitched the city’s aesthetics for the last 30 years. From the chrome, glass and steel of downtown Houston, to the mid‘70s architecture in Meyerland, to the industrial East End, Ferguson and his staff scout locations and present them to production companies from around the world. For those that bite, they coordinate all the local logistics.

“You can, for all intents and purposes, get every kind of vegetation, every kind of topography – with the exception of mountains and deserts – within a 30 to 40 mile radius of downtown Houston,” says Ferguson. Farther west, farmland reminiscent of the Midwest; to the north and east, lakes and piney woods that Ferguson discovered in ‘94 could substitute for the Alpine region;

and going south, coastal plains and Galveston Island, an asset not just for its beaches but for its period architecture.

Though confident in his product, Ferguson’s job was complicated in May when the 85th Texas Legislature allocated only $22 million, down $10 million from the last session, to the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program. But, Ferguson believes, there is a silver lining.

“We’ve been getting a lot of recognition, meaning the city of Houston, on the national stage for our independent, indigenous film industry,” says Ferguson. “And one of the things that makes our industry so appealing, and also I think headed to even more success, is our diversity.”

“We’re becoming less and less dependent on projects coming in from outside the state of Texas, though that’s still very important because that’s where the major economic impact is.” .

Between the booming commercial market in Houston and the projects coming out of ethnic communities (such as the Indian, Hispanic and African-American communities) and from women directors, Ferguson’s prognosis is of the glass halfempty, half-full variety. “We’re becoming less and less dependent on projects coming in from outside the state of Texas, though that’s still very important because that’s where the major economic impact is.”

Texas’ rebate-based program has brought millions of dollars and thousands of jobs to the state, not to mention the

boost films give to tourism and a locale’s image, as Houston-born director Richard Linklater’s 2014 film Boyhood did.

Nominated for six Academy Awards, its ambitious scope and 12-year filming schedule garnered much attention, as did the very recognizable role Houston and its landmarks played. “It was sort of a love letter to growing up in Houston, and a groundbreaking project,” says Ferguson.

“I’m certainly glad that Houston was a part of it.”

• Speaking of Boyhood (2014), Ethan Hawke, as Mason Evans Sr., took his kids to an Astros game and witnessed a Jason Lane homer at Minute Maid Park.

• Robert Altman’s Brewster McCloud (1970) has the honor of being the first feature film shot inside the Astrodome – where it also premiered in front of 23,930 people.

• Gilley’s may have burned down in 1990, but the honky-tonk will live on forever in the John Travolta-Debra Winger classic Urban Cowboy (1980), shot in Pasadena.

• Both Terms of Endearment (1983) and its sequel, The Evening Star (1996), shot around Houston, in River Oaks and at Rice University.

Shot in Houston

10 Bits of Triva About Films

• The Wortham Theater Center doubled as the evil corporation OCP’s Civic Centrum in 1990’s RoboCop 2 (a film snatched away from Dallas, where the first was made).

• Gen Xers everywhere may claim Reality Bites (1994), but Houstonians will recognize Tranquility Park and Shell Plaza as their own.

• Apollo 13 (1995) made use of the Johnson Space Center, as have Armageddon (1998), Space Cowboys (2000), and even One Direction, who shot their “Drag Me Down” video there in 2015.

• Wes Anderson returned home to shoot his 1998 film Rushmore at his alma mater, St. John’s School, as well as at Lamar High School and the Warwick Hotel, now known as the Hotel Zaza.

• Battleship Texas, docked in the Houston Ship Channel “played” the USS Hornet and USS West Virginia in 2001’s Pearl Harbor.

• Mao’s Last Dancer (2009), based on the life of Houston Ballet principal and communist defector Li Cunxin, featured the Miller Outdoor Theatre, China Garden restaurant and the JPMorgan Chase Building.