TEXAS BUREAU

Why a planned TV series about a fictional Texas governor may have to be filmed out of state

Legislation would establish a formula for tax credits tied to how much money and economic activity a film project shot in Texas generates.

John C. Moritz
Corpus Christi Caller Times

AUSTIN — To Mykle McCoslin, it only makes sense that a governor of Texas live and work in Texas.

Even if that governor is a fictional character.

McCoslin, an actress-screenwriter and native Texan, is developing what she hopes will be a TV series in which she plays the third woman to become governor of her home state. But to get the project off the ground, she told a legislative panel Thursday, Texas must shed its reputation as an unfriendly place for TV and filmmaking.

Actress-screenwriter Mykle McCoslin is developing a TV series about a female governor of Texas. She is posing before the portrait of former Gov. Ann Richards in the Texas Capitol Rotunda, March 30, 2023.

A resident of Spring and president of the Houston chapter of the Screen Actors Guild, McCoslin was among several people with connections to the film industry who testified before the House Culture and Tourism Committee on the need for a tax incentive plan to bring more productions to Texas.

Otherwise, even those with a Texas-centered theme, like the project McCoslin is hoping to bring to life, will likely find a friendlier welcome in other states.

"If this bill doesn't get passed, this television series will go to either Oklahoma, New Mexico or Atlanta," McCoslin said. "And it has got to be filmed here in Texas."

The legislation, House Bill 3600 by Amarillo Republican Four Price, would establish a formula that would allow companies that pay the state franchise tax to purchase tax credits tied to how much money and economic activity a film project shot in Texas generates. The finance scheme would result in a loss of more than $500,000 in its first full year of operation, according a legislative analysis.

More:Why an ex-Californian says Texas must do more to attract the TV and film industries

Dick Lavine, an analyst for the progressive think tank Every Texan, told the committee it would be a bad idea to subsidize the film industry at the expense of public education and other government programs.

However, Jon Hockenyos, an economist hired by the film production company Mucho Mas Media, said the projects generated by the incentives package would spur the state's overall economy. Any production in Texas would mean that the cast and crew would spend money in local businesses.

"The short version is we could probably move from around 5,000 jobs currently in the industry closer to 30,000 permanent jobs," he said. "And, when you run all that through the ripple effects, you'd see that double. And you'd see for the state of Texas a significant windfall, as well — probably on the order of over $100 million a year in the general revenue."

Sean Doherty founded a small production services company in Amarillo called Sharpened Iron Studios that he has plans to expand. But those plans are contingent on gaining the industry's confidence that Texas will be a profitable place to do business.

"We will employ over 3,000 people alone in Texas," said Doherty, the brother of "Beverly Hills, 90210" star Shannen Doherty. "These are great jobs, high-paying jobs. With the demand that's out there, these are lifelong jobs and we need to bring them in Texas. The fact that Oklahoma has a program that's better than us, y'all, that's just a sin."

McCoslin's show about the next female governor that she and her two writing partners are developing will be a comedy-drama called "ATX," and she will play the title character named Rebecca Austin. Part of the character's backstory is that she is the daughter of a now-deceased U.S. senator and Vietnam veteran.

McCoslin acting credits include appearances on ABC's " The Astronaut Wives Club," AMC's "Preacher" and the feature film "The Seventh Day."

She also has a role in "The Long Game," which premiered in March during South by Southwest and stars Dennis Quaid. It's set in the 1950s and centers on the true story of five young Mexican American caddies who created their own golf course in the border city of Del Rio because they were not allowed to play on the course at the all-white country club.

More:'The Long Game,' based on a true Texas story about golf champions, premieres at SXSW

"Guess where we filmed that? Not Texas," she said. "I (flew) to Bogota, Colombia, to film that movie. And, granted, it was nice to film in Colombia. But it should have happened here in Texas."

The committee took no action on the measure but could do so in a later meeting.

John C. Moritz covers Texas government and politics for the USA Today Network in Austin. Contact him at jmoritz@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @JohnnieMo.