If all the world’s a stage, Fort Worth wants to be center.
“We believe that film is truly the next great industry in Fort Worth,” said Mayor Mattie Parker at her State of the City address on Thursday.
“Just like cattle, railroads, energy, manufacturing, defense, it will become a part of the enduring economic development story that defines our city’s future,” she added.
Over the past decade, the city has been pushing incentives to entice production companies through the establishment of the Fort Worth Film Commission.
Parker said it’s been paying off, bringing in nearly a billion dollars and over 50,000 jobs.
She explained the film industry isn’t just hiring extras, electricians, and set hands– but is also supporting local businesses.
“Dry cleaners, restaurants, caterers, future job prospects…” she said.
Parker said the projects come because Fort Worth is a city that says ‘Yes,’ something David Glasser, CEO of 101 Studios, agreed with.
“I’ve experienced film everywhere that you could imagine. This city just opens the door; whether it is crew, local city officials, police department, fire department,” he said during the State of the City address.
Glasser works with Fort Worth native Taylor Sheridan on shows like Landman and Yellowstone.
He said his company is working on about 16 shows and movies, “a big chunk of them” in Fort Worth.
“Just from my own company, I’ve probably moved 15% of my staff here… Next year, 101 Studios will move here and move its headquarters here because of the opportunities and what we can do,” he said.
Glasser said while the city draws in projects with its incentives and openness, it’s the people who keep them here.
“Billy Bob [Thornton] always tells me, ‘I can go to the park and I can do things here because people are respectful, even if they want a photo, how they ask about it, you know,’” Glasser said.
It’s why Glasser said he’s moved here, too.
“That man has more chickens and cows than probably all of us put together now; he is all into this community, it’s pretty great,” Parker told reporters after her address.
Despite now housing the state’s largest production campus, SGS Studios in the Alliance area, Glasser said he’s working with city leaders to create even more room for the film industry in Fort Worth.
“Companies like Netflix and Amazon and Hulu are all looking to expand their base and looking for that opportunity to bring jobs to places,” he said.
He said he’s already called Hillwood Alliance about projects that want to operate out of Fort Worth, but there’s no room right now.
Glasser said he’s working on more stages and buildings for production, as well as partnering with community colleges for education opportunities in the film industry, like electricians, lighting, construction, set designers, decorators, hair artists, and makeup artists.
“I do not right now have enough jobs to fill the shows that we have here,” he said.
He said a production typically has up to a handful of stars at the top of the team, and about 350 people who make it run. He said he foresees thousands of jobs over the next decade.
“If somebody in this room here stood up and said, ‘I could be a makeup artist, or a hair artist, or a grip, or a gaffer,’ I can literally leave here with you and take you to an appointment tomorrow. Literally,” Glasser said.