Monday, July 18, 2011

Celebrate (and Support) Texas Film Production with TXMPA This Week.

You do know that “The Alamo” is not the only movie ever filmed in Texas? We’ve got all kinds of movies in production here, plus commercials, industrial films, interactive and digital projects. You name it, we do it right here. Don’t you want to keep on doing it? I sure do.

A lot of the industry people who make this happen will be in Houston starting tomorrow, lining up for the annual meeting of the Texas Motion Picture Alliance on July 23rd.

This TXMPA is an advocacy group that supports our film, video, interactive and digital media. It lobbies the Lege in Austin. It’s been pretty successful in getting incentives passed by state legislators that’ll bring even more production to Texas, including funding for the Texas Moving Image Incentive Program.

Why’s this get-together important enough to warrant a Signalwriter blog post? Not to mention events and parties here in the Bayou City all week long? Because video media production means work. That counts my own.

Working for and with Locke Bryan Productions I have had the chance to do video and TV projects like this. I’ve worked on client audio projects with Audio Bob. I’ve worked with Zephyr Salvo on website creation and content development. Participants in the TXMPA are an integral part of my work-life.

When colleagues like Locke Bryan, Bob Vance and John Phillippe (among others) tell me they’re hosting a party for the industry and TXMPA attendees on Friday, July 22, I’d kinda like to be there to say “I appreciate your work.”

Becci Himes, Executive Director of the British-American Business Council Houston, also sent the TXMPA schedule over – she wants me to attend the luau the following evening, after the membership meeting. She noted, “Richard, I see a new Hawaiian shirt in your future!”

I’ll start by wearing an extra-loud one to this Margarita Madness lash-up on Friday. I’ll try to drop some memorable lines like, “You shoot off a guy's head with his pants down, believe me, Texas is not the place you wanna get caught.”

That’s from “Thelma and Louise,” 1991. Not filmed here. Maybe one of those TXMPA-ers will be able to use it in marketing.

3 comments:

Greg Clock said...

Reads well. Go ahead, name your favorite Texas movies (where a significant portion, if not all, of the movie is made in Texas or about Texas). You go first. Yours won't influence mine. I'll be naming five.

Richard Laurence Baron said...

I have to go first, Greg? Thanx a bunch. That’s a challenge. Okay, my choices (in no order) are:
▪ The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
▪ The Sugarland Express
▪ Bonnie and Clyde
▪ Rushmore
▪ Bull Durham

Greg Clock said...

The Last Picture Show. And with all due respect to the others, a long pause before Lone Star, Giant, Terms of Endearment, and Bonnie and Clyde (although that one ended in Louisiana). Urban Cowboy was good, as was the one of the teenagers in the really small town who set up their lawn chairs in the middle of the road. Fifty years ago, The Alamo was good. Might be worth another look. Haven't seen Friday Night Lights, Hope Floats and surely dozens of others, including the new one by Mr. Malick. JFK way way down on the list, although they did spend a lot money making sure the Texas Theatre looked just right.