A ‘Landman’ star wanted more Fort Worth films, so he moved his production company
When he was around 10 years old, Tanner Beard flung open a closet to find a dusty video camera.
The Snyder, Texas, native wiped off the lens and set it up to record. “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” was all the rage at the time, so Beard did his best impression of the eccentric gumshoe.
From there, he leveled up his filmmaking by grabbing every action figure in his collection to place in mini-sets he built of cardboard. That’s when he made his first movie, a sequel to the gorilla-centric sci-fi film “Congo.”
“It was just either all uphill or all downhill from there, however you want to look at,” Beard joked.
Beard is firmly on the uphill track, which he says means that he’s still climbing the creative mountain.
After a lengthy stint in Los Angeles, the 41-year-old filmmaker found his way back to Texas, this time a little more east of his hometown. Beard moved his family and his production company, Silver Sail Entertainment, to Fort Worth, where he’s already ingrained himself in the growing film scene.
Since the Fort Worth Film Commission launched in 2015, the city has seen nearly $1 billion in economic impact and employed more than 50,000 people. “Yellowstone” co-creator Taylor Sheridan has moved much of his television production to Cowtown, including “1883,” “Lioness” and “Landman.”
It’s been a busy couple of years for Beard, whose company made two movies in Fort Worth in 2024 and another this year. He also landed a supporting role in “Landman” as Marty, a roughneck that works for Cooper Norris (Jacob Lofland).
“I hope that we can just keep bringing movies here,” Beard told the Star-Telegram in mid-November. “I know that we have multiple ones coming down the pipeline, so we’re looking to stay pretty busy here.”
Small town Texas beginnings lead to Hollywood
A child of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, Beard’s earliest cinematic memories come from Saturday morning cartoons and visits to the local two-screen movie theater.
He recalls being enthralled by “Once Upon a Time in the West,” Sergio Leone’s nearly three-hour Western epic that Beard watched at home with his parents. One of his earliest memories of visiting a movie theater is seeing the poster for “Ghostbusters II.”
Subsequent trips to the theater for “Home Alone,” “Edward Scissorhands” and “The Lion King” helped expand his movie brain.
“I kind of lived at the movie theater growing up,” Beard said.
Beard would get his first cinematic shot at 16 years old thanks to a fellow Snyder native.
In 2001, actor-turned-director Barry Tubb headed home to film his new movie “Grand Champion,” starring Julia Roberts, Bruce Willis, George Strait and Emma Roberts.
Beard visited the local hotel where the film’s production office had been set up and asked Tubb if he could work on the movie in any capacity. Tubb was bullish at first, but eventually gave in after realizing that Beard was the son of someone he went to high school with.
Thus, Beard had the job of driving cinematographer Daniel Moder around Snyder to scout locations.
“I still owe a lot, to this day, to Barry Tubb,” Beard said.
After high school, Beard moved to Los Angeles to attend the LA campus of the New York Film Academy.
The school had access to Universal Studios’ backlot, where Beard recalls being right next door to Steven Spielberg’s office while he worked on “The Terminal” with Tom Hanks.
“I remember calling my mom and being like, ‘I’m at school and I just saw Steven Spielberg. Like, something’s right,’” Beard said.
All aboard Silver Sail
After scoring a few acting roles in the mid-2000s, Beard got his first taste of making something on his own during the 2007-2008 Writer’s Guild of America strike.
Not many productions were working at the time, so Beard and a few friends made a comedy series spoofing Spanish soap operas called “Valley Peaks.” The show was a labor of love for Beard, who credits the experience as his “real film school.”
It was around this time that he launched Silver Sail Entertainment, his production company.
A couple of years later, Beard went to work on his directorial feature “The Legend of Hell’s Gate: An American Conspiracy.” The film tells the story of Hell’s Gate, the large rock structure in Possum Kingdom Lake in nearby Graford.
Beard admits that the film flew under the radar at the time of its release in 2011, but, he’s planning to release a 15th-anniversary cut of the film next year titled “Once Upon a Time in Texas.”
“I just love this story,” Beard said. “It’s such a love letter back to Texas.”
Speaking of Texas, Beard is back living in the Lone Star state after years in Los Angeles.
Fort Worth is a place he thought about residing in since at least the early 2000s, and is near some of his family in Granbury and a family ranch just outside Mineral Wells.
Having a child was the final prompt for Beard to pick up shop and head east. Coming from West Texas, Cowtown is more of his “old school” speed than the big city lights of Dallas.
“It’s much more than just the film industry that brought me here. It’s the love of this town,” Beard said. “I don’t know exactly why I chose it, aside from I just fell in love with it, much like everybody else.”
Getting to work in Fort Worth
In 2024, Beard’s company made two films in the area — “Daisy” and “Blood Behind Us.”
“Daisy” is a bull riding drama from writer-director Nikhil Melnechuk that Beard says is still being tinkered on. “Blood Behind Us” is dramatic thriller from Brendan Gabriel Murphy and Shaun Hart that features one of the final performances of screen legend Michael Madsen, who died this summer.
There’s also “One in a Million,” which is a medical drama that has Beard both directing and acting in. The film was made in the area over the past few months.
The hope is for these films to release next year, and potentially have red carpet premieres in Fort Worth. From there, Beard said the goal is to keep on making movie magic in the region.
“We want to get more involved with the film community here,” Beard said.
Beard has also been a cog in a local large machine in Taylor Sheridan’s “Landman.”
The oil industry series primarily films in Fort Worth, and when Beard heard the show was looking for someone to play a burly West Texan roughneck, he knew he had to give it a whirl.
At the time of his audition, Beard said his hair was down to his shoulders as he was in prep for a surfing film starring Kevin Costner called “Headhunters.” He was able to get further into character by asking a costumer to make him a dirty oilfield shirt.
With his dad’s old hard hat atop his head, and covered in cinema-grade grease, Beard read for the show.
“I was like, I know I’m going way overboard for an audition, but [expletive] it,” Beard said. “This might be my only chance to be in ‘Landman,’ even if it’s in my garage, so I went for it, dude.”
On the same day his daughter was born earlier this spring, Beard got the call that he booked “Landman.”
Not long after, he was on set standing face-to-face with Billy Bob Thornton. In his best Arkansas accent, Beard recounts Thornton coming up to him and asking if he’s playing Marty on the show.
Beard said yes, to which Thornton responded by asking if he wanted to run lines since he didn’t receive his “sides” the night before. Thereafter, Beard is sitting outside Thornton’s trailer rehearsing with him and Lofland.
“I’m a small part in this big story, and I’m so grateful to be there,” Beard said.
Hollywood with some Texas twang
As Beard looks to the future, he wants to keep making things in his home state.
Texas lawmakers passed a bill earlier this year that puts $1.5 billion in film incentives up for grabs over the next decade. This is the largest allocation ever set forth for incentives in Texas, which experts believe will bring more business to the state.
Beyond the three movies he previously mentioned, Beard has been working on opening up a new business called Silver Sail Studios.
The venture will serve as a hub for productions that need props, costumes and fabrication services. Beard says the doors open to the business off East Lancaster Avenue in January.
If more “Landman” or other Taylor Sheridan shows were to come his way, Beard said he’s open. He’ll also continue making his own movies.
Ultimately, Beard said he’s just happy to plant roots in the Texas soil.
“Getting to be a part of the biggest show in the Fort Worth community is so cool, because I got the show before I really came here,” Beard said. “It was just one more sign that maybe you’re in the right place to be.”
This story was originally published December 16, 2025 at 4:00 AM.
