Screen Magazine: Vol. 28, Issue 10

Screen Magazine - Index

Screen Magazine - Screen Magazine: Vol. 28, Issue 10 - Index

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By Bob Hudgins,
Director, Texas Film Commission
For those SCREEN readers who are spending
a week in Cannes, a) it should have been me
and b) we’re proud to have three Texas-made
films included in this year’s lineup: Quentin
Tarantino’s “Death Proof,” shot in Austin;
the Coen Brothers’ “No Country for Old
Men,” shot partially in west Texas; and Michael
Winterbottom’s “A Mighty Heart,” shot in India,
Pakistan, France and Austin – locations that
doubled for New York, Pakistan, and California.
Moving from Cannes to east Texas (“behind
the pine curtain”), we’d like to see a higher
profile for this beautiful, diverse and underused
area. Even if Texas is able to put incentives in
place later this year, Shreveport’s business will
probably stay lively and that’s not a bad thing
for east Texas. It’s easily accessible from two
production centers – Dallas and Shreveport –
though Shreveport is closer for many locations,
just 22 miles away.
One fan of east Texas is the Texas Film
Commission’s new head of production, John
P. Crowley. John’s worldwide production
experience includes work as a location manager/
scout on “Hidalgo” and “The Chronicles of
Narnia,” as well as work in New Zealand, China,
Chile and Mexico. We’re delighted to have him
working for Texas.
Even with that background, John was knocked
out by what he found on his recent survey of
east Texas. On the list: beautifully preserved
old towns with vintage downtowns, brick
streets, historic homes, large estates and plenty
of lodging. The region also features period
universities, vacant hospitals and schools, ready
to shoot.
Outside the cities, producers can find two-lane
blacktop highways through grasslands, forests
and farmland along with plenty of rivers and
bridges. Caddo Lake State Park is one example,
complete with 8,000 acres of incredible swamp
landscapes. Some of east Texas looks like the
Black Forest in Germany, some of it looks like
Maine, and all of it looks great.
Another long-proven film asset is the Texas
State Railroad. With four steam engines, four
vintage diesel engines and an assortment of
passenger cars running on 25 miles of rural
track, the railroad has a long history of film
work. Next up is Denzel Washington’s “The
Great Debaters,” shooting there in June.
The Texas Film Commission will be taking a
closer look at east Texas, and I hope SCREEN’s
readers will too.
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