‘Fixer Upper,’ ‘9-1-1: Lone Star’ Among Productions Attracted to Texas’ Diverse Filming Locales

variety.com:

Paul Plunkett Texas offers vast, open spaces and is beefing up its industry infrastructure to attract production not only across the state but in several pockets that have become hubs for all types of media production.

From the central regions in and around Austin and Waco to the western panhandle near Amarillo, the Lone Star State is positioning itself for a production boom, aided by the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive program, recently passed by the state legislature. “We were able to receive such great funding and have such support from the legislators across the board on both sides of the aisle, from rural areas to the cities,” says Mindy Raymond, communications director for the Texas Media Production Alliance, noting the leap in funding from the previous legislative session ($45 million) to this one ($200 million).

The Austin region, no stranger to the entertainment industry, is also experiencing a showbiz growth spurt. It’s hosted everything from the annual SXSW Festival to Netflix hit “Queer Eye” to film classics such as “Dazed and Confused” and “Friday Night Lights” to current features and shows like Apple TV+’s “The Last Thing He Told Me” and Fox’s “9-1-1: Lone Star.” New facilities have sprouted around the capital city in nearby towns like San Marcos, Bastrop and Dripping Springs, where Stray Vista Studios, which recently debuted the largest Virtual Production Volume Wall of its kind in the state, is located. “This allows you to tell stories from anywhere, from any time period, from places that exist to places that don’t exist,” says Nate Strayer, the founder and CEO of Stray Vista.