Film incentives might be on cutting room floor

Banning movies from being in filmed in Texas isn’t on the table, but taking away the state’s already minimal movie production incentives might have the same result.

State Sens. Konni Burton, R-Fort Worth, and Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, have filed bills to abolish the Moving Image Industry Incentive Program.

Texas is in a perplexing position when it comes to filmmaking.

The state has almost every type of “look” for locations, sprawling amounts of empty land, hot spots for both crew and talent and a major film festival, but no enticing incentive for filmmakers to use any of it.

The film incentives went down 66 percent after last year’s legislative session, and films might not even get any incentive at all if the content is inappropriate or portrays Texan culture negatively.

The future of Texas filmmaking isn’t looking good, which is a shame. Many great filmmakers started in Texas.

Without the filmmakers and material, other people in the film industry will find jobs elsewhere.

“The Texas Film Commission, which oversees the program, ties the $168.4 million doled out to the creation of nearly 20,000 full-time jobs and $1.14 billion in spending,” The Texas Tribune reported in 2015.

Gov. Greg Abbott has been supportive of the incentive program. This should bode well for keeping it alive.

This story was originally published December 27, 2016 at 6:04 PM with the headline "Film incentives might be on cutting room floor."