Texas Officially Passes Senate Bill 22 Increasing Film Funding Within the State – San Antonio Film Industry Likely to See Massive Growth
On June 22nd, Texas lawmakers signed SB 22 into law – a bill totaling roughly $1.5 billion in film incentives, opening the doors to a new era of Texas filmmaking, which will in turn boost the Texas and San Antonio economies.
What is SB 22?
Senate Bill 22 intends to provide a consistent avenue of funding on behalf of the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program (TMIIIP) at $300 million a year, with resources guaranteed through 2035 and expected to reach $1.5 billion in total. The TMIIIP was created as a way to strengthen the Texas economy by bringing more jobs to the state through locally shot film productions; in order to qualify, projects must be filmed majorly in Texas and must reach a certain in-state spending threshold.
The bill goes into effect officially on September 1st and anticipates a boost to the state’s economy with an estimated economic return of about $5 for every $1 spent on film productions in Texas. So, even though Texas residents will have to accommodate the extra folks involved in film productions headed to the Lone Star State, it’ll ultimately mean more jobs for Texas locals and more money funneled back into the economy and back into Texas hands.
The passing of the bill largely relied on the efforts of organizations like Media for Texas, who advocated for SB 22 with various networking/marketing methods to grab lawmakers’ (and Texas residents’) attention. These included social media advertisements featuring homegrown Texas actors like Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson and Renee Zellweger, who lobbied for SB 22 with the catchy and aptly named “True to Texas” campaign, pushing for increased incentives, with the goal of keeping movies by, about and for Texas within the state’s borders instead of places like New Mexico or California.
What This Means for San Antonio Filmmaking
San Antonio is poised to see a huge growth to our film industry once SB 22 takes effect. In addition to the enticing incentives offered by the new bill, the city has an additional funding program, called the Supplemental Film Incentive, which offers (up to) a 7.5% rebate on film expenditures within the city – which, combined with the new incentive program for the state as a whole, makes it one of the more attractive programs in the nation. This paired with the local filmmaking talent pool being incubated at UTSA (with over 300 students currently enrolled in the university’s Film/Media program), solidifies San Antonio as a potential major player in the nation’s ever-changing film industry.
The San Antonio Film Commission is the driving force behind the push to expand on the city’s movie-making industry, offering incentive-based programs, demonstrating a multitude of publicly-accessible and beautiful film locations and carefully curating a film-friendly community in San Antonio. For more information, visit their website at filmsanantonio.com.
