North Texas film industry booming with new incentives, stars and local talent
From Ferris to Fort Worth, Hollywood is rolling its cameras across North Texas.
Billy Bob Thornton has been spotted filming in Dallas, Taylor Sheridan's "Landman" films in Fort Worth and a new series is kicking off in Ferris. The surge highlights Texas' push to become a national film hub — not just a filming location.
Much of the talent feeding that boom is from KD Conservatory, a Dallas film and acting school that has trained performers for nearly 50 years. Its alumni include Selena Gomez, Julio Cedillo and Arlington native Jordan Walker Ross.
Ross said his acting journey began by chance.
"So I started, I just kind of, by chance, auditioned for a community theater production of "A Christmas Carol" in Mansfield, Texas, and I got the role of Tiny Tim. And from then on, I told my mom, 'This is what I want to do. I want to act,'" Ross said.
Ross later moved to Los Angeles but returned to Texas to raise a family, worried his acting career might be over.
"I did kind of have this sense of like, oh, man, I need to find a way to get me and my family back to LA, because how am I ever going to make it as an actor here?" Ross said.
Instead, the work came to him. He landed a role in "1883," the "Yellowstone" prequel filmed in Fort Worth, and later starred as Little James in "The Chosen," filmed in Midlothian.
"So it was something that I was very fortunate to get in at the beginning of kind of this wave that was coming into Texas," Ross said.
That wave is gaining even more momentum. Senate Bill 22 sets aside $300 million every two years for the next decade — totaling $1.5 billion — to boost film, TV, and commercial production in Texas. The program offers rebates of up to 31% for projects that hire local crews and film primarily in-state.
Even Texas-born stars like Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson and Taylor Sheridan helped push for the new law, which aims to make Texas a long-term player in the film industry.
For KD Conservatory owner Antonia DeNardo, the changes are already visible.
"It's just an incredible feeling because we are able to support them on the local level, and we've been having people reach out from all over the United States," DeNardo said.
She said enrollment at the school is projected to jump more than 50% next year.
"And I think people realize that, like I said, the feeling is electric. They feel it, they feel the energy, and they want to be involved. It's exciting," she said.
It's not just actors seeing opportunities. Student filmmaker Bubba Winkelspecht said the industry is creating new space for storytellers like him.
"So just the amount of space you have for filmmaking, for opportunities, it's and it's a gorgeous state. I think a lot of times, like people, when they think of filmmaking, they think of LA or New York. And I'm just so excited for Texas to be a part of those conversations as well," Winkelspecht said.
Texas claims 'Third Coast' title
From the West Coast to the East Coast, Texas is now claiming the title of the "Third Coast." For Ross, it also means a second chance.
"And I think these are projects that, you know, we need and that are the industry needs," he said. "It's just exciting that that's happening in Texas," Ross adds.
Sheridan is also expanding his footprint in Fort Worth, where he is opening his own production studio. Industry leaders say the boom is only expected to grow.