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Austin nets top ranking in the movie-making industry. 

In 2008, MovieMaker magazine ranked Austin as the #1 city to live and make a movie. Even more impressive is that Austin has ranked in the top five of the MovieMaker list for each of the past five years. So the real question is: Does Austin really deserve this long standing distinction? For the answer, let’s take a closer look at the trifecta of factors that producers use in selecting a city to shoot their films.

Spoon plays ACL

Money, people and locations.

When you talk about  money, it means incentives, or the cold hard cash which comes back to a producer for shooting their project in a particular city. Yes it's true, cities and states pay big bucks for the right to have a film shot in their patch. Why? Because productions typically spend half of their budget in and around the city where they are shooting. Let's see, a $15 million budget times 50% spent at businesses within the city. Sounds like a decent investment...but we digress.

Onto the next most important reason for selecting a shooting city: the people! These are the professional crew and cast who are considered to be locals. In other words, people who don’t incur a hefty T&E (travel and expenses) cost to bring them in and set them up for the shoot. (OK, so in the end, this one goes back to money too.)

The third top concern of the production trinity is, location, location, location. It's well known Austin scored in spades in that department. Now, where does Austin sit in this whole thing?

The Pennybacker Bridge

The historic Driskil Hotel

A nice scary looking house in Hays County

Talk with anyone who lives here and it won’t be long before you hear about the mystical "Austin vibe." When you meld together so many creative professionals of the arts, music, and film with such a large population of health-minded, environmentally active, diverse people, it just appears...an intangible vibe that is truly tangible. Visitors spending just a few days here invariably think about moving here at least a couple times during their stay.

Flying over Lake Travis

ACVB Photo/ Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium

Austin is large enough that there is never a shortage of fun and engaging things to do. You can also get everything you need for a production quickly, easily and typically less expensive than in many large cities, yet you won’t get lost trying to get around. Perhaps you need a night out to bond with the cast and crew, or a great live music backdrop for that scene you have been working on.  Did we mention that Austin is the Live Music Capital of the World? Heck, the city even had the term registered. 

Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial Statue

 

Come to Austin; make a film

 Production Incentives – Cash Back

In a nutshell, here is how the incentives work within Austin and for the whole state of Texas. Spend your budget in paying wages to Texas residents or in procuring production related goods and services from Texas-based companies and get 5% back in your pocket. Shoot and spend within what are considered “underused” areas within the state of Texas and you are looking at 6.25%. For complete requirements and to file an online application, refer to the Texas Film Commission .

Paramount and State Theatres

 If you want to see how you can help drive and support more productions of film and TV shows here in Austin through legislation and other great means, check out the Texas Motion Picture Alliance for more information.

Austin Film Card

Sales Tax Exemption – Cash Savings

Another nice savings, courtesy of the state of Texas, is the sales tax exemption. For all of the products or services purchased to complete a movie project in the state of Texas, production companies do not have to pay the 8.25% in state sales tax. This includes all post production work. This is because commercial- and filmmaking in Texas are considered manufacturing. For this benefit, you only need to give your vendors a sales tax exemption form and no sales tax will be charged. With most productions putting at least half of their budget into the location where they shoot, these little tax-saving nuggets quickly add up to some real cash. Once again, get the details and the tax form on the Texas Film Commission.

A beautiful shot over the river

Get carded

The Film Discount Card is a great way to make your cast and crew feel even more at home in Austin. The vendors include everything from restaurants, to car rentals, to production gear. You can typically expect 10% or greater discount for card holders. Once again, with lots of moving people parts, these little percentage points add up quickly. More information on the card can be found at the Austin Film Commission . 

Hamilton Pool

Crew up

The Central Texas area is home to thousands of production professionals. This includes directors, cameramen, editors, DPs, gaffers, grips, recordists, PAs, and your entire cast who can be brought in at a moment's notice. Just tap into the tightly knit production community and work with Austin's exceptional agents and casting directors, including the Emmy-winning Beth Sepko. With each graduation year, the University of Texas’ Radio, Television and Film program, the Austin School of Film, and smaller programs such as Steve Mims’ Production One, pour thousands more into the pool. As a “Right to Work” state, Texas is the home of professionals who are either working as IATSE or SAG union members, or as  freelancers. Right to work basically means that no one can be compelled to join a union, nor can employment be denied because of union or non-union membership. It is really the decision of the producer to decide what mix their team will be. The Texas Production Guide and the Texas Association of Film and Tape Professionals both include thousands of production pros who are ready to crew up for your next project.

Austin City Limits Music Festival from above

Win your way to Austin

If you are a filmmaker, then you already want to come here. That is because Austin has birthed two of the industry's biggest film festivals, South by Southwest Film Festival and the Austin Film Festival. When any city can boast even a single world renowned festival, it has a large part to do with the presence of a deep filmmaking community who help to cultivate and populate these festivals with new films and buts in seats. 

Sunning at Barton Springs Pool

City -to lake -to pasture -to small town charm in 30 minutes

Consider this; every single picture you see in this story is within Austin. The amazing diversity of locations in this city is something that is an incentive in itself. Making company moves between scenes suddenly doesn’t sound so daunting when every scene is within 30 miles of the one you are shooting.

FM 620 past the Mansfield Dam

Someone once said, “water, water everywhere and all the films did shoot.” OK, we just made that up, but Austin really does have it everywhere. The “river-like” Lady Bird Lake and Lake Austin both snake right into and through the city. The more “lake-like” Lake Travis and Lake Georgetown are amazing locations to take out a nice sailboat or do some wake boarding. Or you may just want to use the scenery as a backdrop for some of the multi million dollar real estate which lines them. Technically these bodies are just the Colorado River dammed up in a few spots, but we like to call them lakes anyway. Speaking of dams, drive under the spectacular Mansfield Dam on FM 620, you almost feel like you have been CG’d into a big fake background. Head out 30 miles from the city in just about any direction and you have access to locations boasting vast expanses of corn fields, beautiful pastures, rustic horse ranches and the all American waves of grain.

Flying over the river

 

The Infrastructure

Austin’s great infrastructure ranging from full service post houses, to freelance editors, cameramen, sound engineers, motion graphics experts and of course, plenty of music composers, has suited the city’s size in the past. But as Austin heads into its newest growth spurt of some pretty cool new living space, it is already attracting more and more of exactly these types of people to meet the demand. On every new project it is hard to miss the numerous former Californians who are loving the scene here and have dropped roots. They can finally find a nice and affordable place to live, pick up a great latte and still be part of a young, hip, and affluent crowd.

Austin Studios transformed the old Robert Mueller airport into a number of sound stages, screening rooms and a gigantic cyc wall. There also always seems to be buzz flying around about some big studio which is making Austin its home. Who knows which studio will “get it” first. This place is such a gem that it is surprising that it has remained so independent for so long.  

A great western town

Even more great locations

In Austin, you are now able to book most state or city owned buildings and use them for a shoot. You only pay cost and expenses to run the property. That means there are no extra fees and all the red tape is pre-cut for you. That opens up hundreds of potential locations for all your internal and external shots. Aside from the obvious government and public buildings, you also have Waterloo Park, Republic Square and Zilker Park, the home to the amazing annual outdoor concert,  Austin City Limits Music Festival.

Free Police

Well, at least a couple of them.  If your project qualifies for the Texas Incentive Plan, the city will cover the cost for two of Austin’s finest for 15 days to help with safety and crowd control. Can you start to see the cost savings adding up here?

Over the Oasis on Lake Travis

 Painless Permits

In the state of Texas, you do not need a permit to expose film or shoot video. So, if you are on a private property, you can forget any extra time, effort or fees to file the necessary permits. If you require a road or sidewalk to be closed, you are going to have to seek a permit for that, but in most cases the fees are waived or very cheap. When you add it up, the extra time and hard cash required to file paper work can eat deep into your budget and schedule, unless you are shooting in Austin. 

300 days and the sun is shining.

The one thing you can count on in Austin is that you are going to see the sun. Whether in full view or peaking from the clouds, Austin will see about 300 days a year of sun. The average temps clock in at around 70 degrees and the winters are often very mild and accommodating for a great outdoor shoot. Head down to the Barton Springs Pool on any of these sunny days and see the hundreds of sun bathers mixed in with jugglers, yoga masters, and the occasional circle of Capoeira participants and onlookers. Toss in some rhythmic djembe drum and an acoustic guitar or two and you can get an idea for the scene. When the weather does turn, we have been known to get some pounding storms. So if you need some lightening or a nice big downpour, just pick the right time of year and add them to the shot list.

Easy-in, easy-out

Austin's Bergstrom Airport is only minutes out of the city and with the new 130 and 45 in place, you can get just about anywhere within a hundred miles of Austin relatively quickly. Oh yeah, check out the scenery on the way to the shoot. You may quickly find a need to  make the drive a shoot in itself. 

Great Austin Rock Climbing

You are in good company

Richard Linklater’s Detour Film production and Robert Rodriguez’s, Troublemaker Studios both call Austin their home. Quentin Tarantino hooked up with Rodriguez to shoot Grindhouse here too. Drop into Guero’s on South Congress or the Texas Chili Parlor and you will see some familiar scenes from Death Proof. Shoot and produce a project in Austin and you will also be alongside the hundreds of other great productions from Lonesome Dove, to Dazed and Confused, to Friday Night Lights, who have all credited Austin for their locations.

Sailing on the lake

This story really only scratches the surface as to the wonderful backdrop that Austin presents. It is one of the fastest growing cities in the country yet still maintains its “Keep Austin Weird” style. The city is growing up right before our eyes and with every new space which is created, you see that many more reasons to shoot your production here.

Final prognosis? MovieMaker got it right with their award. Filmmakers who live in Austin should be thankful. Those who don’t, might want to hop on a plane.

The Blanton Museum

Steve Muccini is president of SpotEdge Media, an award winning video production company producing content for TV and the web, and also HomeSaleVideo.com and affiliated with Melton Media. . He is also a writer, producer and actor in Austin, Texas.