Making sense of the Texas film industry

My latest SHOT IN TEXAS column in The Dallas Morning News looks at where things stand for the Texas film industry going into the January session of the Texas Legislature.

My guest stint on 'Writing on the Air'

Francois Pointeau mans the microphone.

You can listen to me talk writing, admit my bad vision and read a bit from my novel-in-stories Evacuation Plan on the KOOP-FM show "Writing on Air" in Austin, Texas by clicking here.

A nursing home Christmas

A few images I shot in a nursing home that is crowded with Christmas.

'The Good Guys' is gone for good

Fox has not officially canceled Dallas-shot The Good Guys; they just won't order more episodes that the 20 that have already aired. With a reduction in episodes ordered for Chase, the television flurry in Big D looks to be drying up. More from me on this Saturday in The Dallas Morning News.

Perry names interim Texas film commish

This just in. Perry has named a temporary replacement for Bob Hudgins as head of the Texas Film Commission. Hudgins stepped down Nov. 30 amid sexual harassment allegations that he has denied.

The replacement is an entertainment attorney and has ties to both Austin and Dallas:


Gov. Rick Perry today named Evan E. Fitzmaurice interim director of the Texas Film Commission. The commission supports Texas’ growing and diverse media industries, and helps increase Texas’ competitive position worldwide as a production destination.

Fitzmaurice will head to the Film Commission after a stint in the Governor’s General Counsel Office. Before joining the Governor’s Office, he practiced law in Los Angeles at the entertainment law firm of Jackoway Tyerman Wertheimer Austen Mandelbaum Morris and Klein P.C. While representing the firm’s writer, director, actor and producer clients, Fitzmaurice focused on film, television and digital production company financings and related transactions.

Fitzmaurice practiced transactional law at the international firm of K&L Gates LLP in Los Angeles and Dallas, and in the Dallas office of Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell LLP. He is a member of the State bars of Texas and California, and a past member of the Beverly Hills and Dallas Bar associations.

Additionally, Fitzmaurice co-produced the 2007 independent documentary, A Lawyer Walks Into a Bar, which premiered at the 2007 South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival, won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2007 AFI Dallas International Film Festival, and appeared at several other film festivals.

A Dallas native, Fitzmaurice received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1993 and a law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1999.

Major Applewhite next to flee Texas Longhorns?

The previous rumor was Major Applewhite would be the next offensive coordinators for Mack Brown's Texas Longhorns. Now reports have him following Will Muschamp to the University of Florida. Looks like Texas fans will get the usual medicine of a rare losing season--an almost new coaching staff. Brown gets to stay and try to find a "coach in waiting" to replace Muschamp and the gang.

'Ruth's Locket' highlights pain of Alzheimer's

I've been meaning to mention Gene Burns' upcoming production of Ruth's Locket for a while now. The short film is about "characters robbed of their past and present, and the connections between the two. The central plot revolves around the loss of a second chance at one’s first love due to the loss of memory."

Set to shoot this month in San Marcos, the film is a nonprofit project that Burns, a longtime actor who wrote the script and will direct, describes as a labor of love based on his own parents. Filmmakers are seeking donations to keep the project going. Check out more about the film and how to contribute to the cause here. Filmmakers are halfway to their financial goal.

Incentive nix for 'Machete' marks major policy shift

I'm frankly a little shocked by word that the Texas Film Commission has denied incentives for Robert Rodriguez's Machete. And even more interested by what it says about the future of both the Texas Film Commission and the state's film industry.

A letter from the film commission is signed by Carol Pirie, the deputy director, and denies the incentives based on either "inappropriate content" or "content that portrays Texas or Texans in a negative fashion." It doesn't specify which. The letter is dated Dec. 1--the day after Bob Hudgins left as Texas film commissioner amid sexual harassment allegations that he says were unrelated.

Gov. Rick Perry's office seems to be giving credence to access televsio/radio conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who raised this issue earlier this year.

What's fascinating about all of this is the change of course it illustrates. Now former Texas film commish Hudgins had said a planned film about the Branch Davidian siege in Waco would likely be denied (filmmakers never actually applied for incentives and the film has yet to be made).

Hudgins' response to critics at the time was that the content provision only applies to films based on actual events. That was his clear take, so the move by Perry's office (I sincerely doubt Pirie made this decision on her own) is a sea change.

Hudgins told me in 2009: "If they are depicting real events and they don't do it accurately, we've got to say no to them. They can show scoundrels as long as they are accurately portrayed."

Machete is fiction. It's been termed "Mexplotation." It's not based on anything factual. The incentives denial seems more of a reaction to an early trailer for the film than the film itself. That trailer, released on Cinco de Mayo 2009, has star Danny Trejo speaking directly to the camera with a "special message to Arizona." The reference is to an immigration law passed by the state. The law was passed AFTER Machete was filmed.

The big question now is which policy will the next Texas film commissioner follow--Hudgins' or Perry's?

CW picks up Rob Thomas-produced show

We told you a while back that Rob Thomas the TV guy (not to be confused with the music guy) had moved back to Austin. This is now all the more intriguing with word from The Hollywood Reporter that Thomas, who got his street cred with Veronica Mars, will executive produce the show Beautiful Strangers for the CW.

The show is described as about: "Two young thieves who given a second chance as informants for a new FBI division."

Which begs the question: where will the show shoot? Bring it home, Rob.

Writers Guild nominates 'Friday Night Lights' for best drama

Austin-shot Friday Night Lights is finally getting the love as the lights begin to dim on the series. The Writers Guild of America has nominated the show for best written drama. Listen to the list of other nominees and you'll see it's no faint praise: Boardwalk Empire, Dexter, Mad Men and Breaking Bad.

Friday Night Light's fifth--and almost certainly last--season is airing currently on DirecTV and will show on NBC in the spring. Stars Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler both were nominated for Emmy Awards this year.

'Chaos' TV series sneaks across border to Canada

Remember when Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert showed up at Dallas City Hall to announce the CBS mid-season replacement series Chaos would shoot in Dallas? Not going to happen. Instead it's about to begin production in Canada with Kurtwood Smith (That '70s Show) replacing Stephen Rea in the cast.

As I told you here, Dallas' loss of the series was completely out of the city's hands. Instead the change came about during the Chaos chaos between Twentieth Century Fox Television (the maker of the show) and CBS.

NBC cuts 'Chase' by four episodes

This just in from The Hollywood Reporter: NBC has opted to reduce the order of Dallas-shot Chase episodes from 22 to 18. It's a dismal sign for a Warner Bros. show that has had some trouble getting viewers.

'Meet Jane' says howdy to Austin shoot

The good news to come out of the quick cancellation of Austin-shot My Generation? One of the producers took notice of the Capital City--and specifically the Capitol--as a great location. The result is the Lifetime series pilot for Meet Jane, a Washington D.C. set story (thus the allure of the Capitol) starring Molly Parker of Deadwood.

Here's the description of the show via Deadline.com: "centers on Jane Bilinski (Parker) whose stale life as an unhappily married mother of two daughters in the Washington, DC area is suddenly re-energized and empowered when the FBI enlists her to spy on her husband, a computer technician the government suspects is selling top-secret information to Russia."

The show is from Andi Bushell who was a co-executive producer on My Generation. Bushell wrote the Jane script and will executive produce the pilot.

The series looks to have some clout behind it. The other executive producer is Mark Pedowitz, former prez of ABC Studios.

For my potential extras out there, On Location Casting is handling those chores and is sending you to their Facebook page.

Sundance says you better 'Take Shelter'

The Sundance Film Festival's Austin pick of the year is Jeff Nichols' Take Shelter. You remember Nichols from his 2008 Southern gothic debut film Shotgun Stories.

Here's Take Shelter as described by Sundance: “A working-class husband and father questions whether his terrifying dreams of an apocalyptic storm signal something real to come or the onset of an inherited mental illness he’s feared his whole life."

It was filmed in small town Ohio, and saw the filmmaker reunite with Michael Shannon. It also features Katy Mixon, Shea Whigham, Kathy Baker, Ray McKinnon and Jessica Chastain (who also stars in The Tree of Life).

Also, expect a 20th anniversary screening of Richard Linklater's Slacker this year at Sundance.

'Tree of Life' Trailer to hit theaters this weekend!

The Playlist is reporting that the first trailer for Terrence Malick's Smithville, Texas-shot The Tree of Life is set to hit theaters this weekend before showing of the film Black Swan. It's a safe bet the trailer will soon after appear online.

'Benavides Born' brings South Texas to Sundance

I have to admit I'd never heard of Benavides Born before it was announced today as a competition film in the upcoming Sundance Film Festival. Why? Because it was shot primarily in South Texas in small towns (Benavides, San Diego, Alice, Carrizo Springs) near Corpus Christi earlier this year, and I frankly don't expect a lot of films to be shot there. Thus it's a nice surprise.

Here's the story: “Benavides Born is a drama about Luz Garcia, a fictional high school senior who desperately wants to go to UT Austin and has earned admission by being among the top in her class. The problem is her family cannot afford it. She therefore pins her hopes on a scholarship awarded to the winners of the State High School Powerlifting Meet. When her powerlifting plans don’t work out as she hoped, she has to find a different kind of strength to keep her dream alive. “

We'll be hearing a lot more about the film and it's director Amy Wendel in coming months.

Bryan Poyser's 'Lovers of Hate' gets Cassavetes nom

Austin filmmaker Bryan Poyser's Lovers of Hate is a nominee for the John Cassavetes Award given by the Film Independent Spirit Awards. Poyser was also nominated by the group in 2005 as "Someone to Watch" for Dear Pillow.

The awards are to be presented Feb. 26.

Zellner brothers want your holiday help

Austin-based indie filmmakers Nathan and David Zellner (Goliath) want your help to complete their film Kid-Thing. The word is shooting is done on the film, but they're trying to raise $10,000 for post-production. Donations get you such goodies as DVDs of their films and a hand-drawn caricature of you by both the brothers. Not good enough? For just a bit more you get the brothers' tap-dancing photo above with a personal inscription. Now that's tempting...

Here's their description of the film:

"Kid-Thing is a fever-dream fable about Annie, a rebellious girl whose existence is devoid of parental guidance. She spends her time roaming the land, shoplifting, vandalizing and making prank phone calls. Her routine is broken one day while playing in the woods; she hears an old woman calling from a mysterious hole in the ground, asking for help. Scared and untrusting of the unseen stranger, Annie deliberates on her course of action."

SHOT IN TEXAS: On the set of 'Boneboys'

That's Boneboy's co-director Justin Meeks on the left with writer/producer Kim Henkel on the right. In the middle is an actress starring in the day's scene.

My SHOT IN TEXAS column in The Dallas Morning News concentrates on Kim Henkel's Boneboys this month. Check it out.

CBS mulls modern-day western set in San Antonio

I've heard rumors of a potential TV series looking to shoot in San Antonio. I guess this is it!

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Desperado is about a band of lawmen who enact cowboy-style justice on modern-day criminals in San Antonio. And, no, Robert Rodriguez has nothing to do with it, despite the title. Instead it's from CSI creator Anthony Zuiker.

Is 'The Good Guys' a goner?

The Dallas-shot Fox series The Good Guys airs its 20th episode on Dec. 10, but Fox has announced it will not order more episodes. Does that mean the show has been canceled? Not officially. On Facebook, the Dallas Film Commission is urging fans to sign a petition to save the show.

'Chase' gets new spring time slot

Dallas-shot Chase gets to keep running despite iffy ratings with new Wednesday 8 p.m. CST time slot beginning Jan. 12 on NBC.

That's good news in North Texas which has already lost Lone Star to poor ratings and is wondering about the future of The Good Guys, which is set to air on Dec. 10 the last of the 20 episodes shot amid predictions it will not be renewed.

Kim Henkel's 'Boneboys' chows down on human flesh

Kim Henkel's claim to fame is as co-screenwriter of the original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Today he was on the set in Taylor, Texas, for the final days of shooting Boneboys, a comic horror film. He wrote the script based loosely on Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal, which means there's some flesh-eating going on. The film is being directed by Duane Graves and Justin Meeks, Henkel's former students whom I last interviewed when they were tubthumping their ultra-low-budget horror flick The Wild Man of the Navidad. They've made a major step up with this film.


Co-directors Duane Graves and Justin Meeks.

Some other shots from the set...







Duane and Kim Henkel

Allen Shamblin wins song of year at CMAs

Allen Shamblin won song of the year for "The House that Built Me" as performed by Miranda Lambert at the Country Music Association Awards tonight. Guess who was the first person to ever interview him? (I sent him a copy of the interview tape a few years back. The interview was poolside at an apartment complex that no longer exists.)

That's Allen on the right in the photo with Tim Janecek, his buddy from days appraising houses in Austin. Allen was inducted into the Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall of Fame last year.

Jack Black hams it up in Lockhart

Rob Moreno took these pix of Jack Black during the filming of Richard Linklater's Bernie recently in Lockhart, Texas, at the restaurant Mr. Taco. You can see more about the shoot in this article. Thanks to Rob for allowing me to post them!

Unaired 'My Generation' episodes to show up on Web

Noah Hawley, the creator of Austin-shot My Generation finally announced the fate of the rest of the eight completed episodes of the short-lived ABC series--the Web. Here's his Tweet about it:

Off to the final sound mix on #MyGeneration. You'll be able to watch all eight episodes starting next week on iTunes, Hulu and ABC.com.

Marking our lives with pet sounds

Here's an essay I read on the air at KUT.FM in Austin, Texas, recently. It's all about how pets, and the loss of them, mark the passage of time for us. Warning: Listeners have been known to tear up after hearing this.

That's Spike in the photo. Yesterday was his birthday.

Texas Longhorns live the struggle

At 4-4, the Texas Longhorns football team is struggling, to put it mildly, as it travels to Kansas State today. Here's my take over at The Austin Chronicle.

Bob Hudgins to resign as Texas film commissioner

Bob Hudgins, Texas film commissioner for the last five years, will resign at the end of this month, he confirmed to me today. (This link is to an early blog post as the story was shaking out.)

He says he's basically burned out from the road and looking to perhaps get back into the film biz, but there is also a harassment investigation which he says he requested after allegations were made. He denies anything happened, but says he can't offer more specifics now.

Hudgins was a longtime locations scout prior to joining the Illinois Film Commission. In Texas he helped jump-start the industry by leading the way for a film incentives program. More from me on this in tomorrow's Dallas Morning News.

Here is my final article that appeared in the Morning News and includes discussion of the harassment investigation involving Hudgins.

When you know the TV show is really history

This just in:

Liquidation sale!!! Two days only!!!
Items for Sale:
Wardrobe
Props
Furniture

From Television shows Lone Star, The Deep End, and Prison Break.

Thursday, November 11th from 7am-7pm
and
Friday, November 12th from 9am-5pm
at
The Studios at Las Colinas
6301 Riverside Drive, Irving, TX 75039

Cash or money order only. All sales final.

Pix from the 'Bernie' set

Jack Black with Bastrop locals.


Shirley MacLaine arrives on the set and is greeted by Richard Linklater. (Photos from Bastrop Advertiser)

Richard Linklater has been filming Bernie, the story of foppish murderer Bernie Tiede in recent weeks in Bastrop (including a day at Spiderwood Studios) and Carthage--the spot of the murder of an 81-year-old woman whose body was stashed in a freeze for many months.

Interesting note not included in this article, which includes info about Matthew McConaughey shooting a scene: My source says Shirley MacLaine has received a number of letters from Tiede in which he proclaims his innocence. The actress is also said to be very impressed with Jack Black's portrayal of Tiede.

Also, is it true that Rip Torn was fired from the show? Send me your tips from the set...

Garrett Gilbert, Colt McCoy both lose while learning

What does the rest of the season hold for the Texas Longhorns after three football losses that didn't have to happen? Read my latest Austin Chronicle blog post.

TV series (even the failures like 'Lone Star') bring bucks to Texas

Here's my latest SHOT IN TEXAS column from The Dallas Morning News with the scoop on television in Texas and its economic impact.