Matthew McConaughey, Dennis Quaid, Woody Harrelson push to make Texas new Hollywood
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Hollywood A-listers Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, Dennis Quaid, Billy Bob Thornton and Renée Zellweger are hoping to make Texas “the new Hollywood.”
The stars united for a new ad from the True to Texas initiative to encourage filmmakers to move productions to the state, and lobby state officials for financial incentives to make the move appealing.
McConaughey and Harrelson took inspiration from their “True Detective” characters in the clip, under the direction of the series director, Nic Pizzolatto.
“Hollywood is flat circle, Woody,” McConaughey muses in the clip. “This industry is like somebody’s memory of an industry. I’m talking about a whole new hub for film and television. A renaissance. A rebirth.”
Matthew McConaughey, Dennis Quaid, Woody Harrelson, starred in an ad encouraging filming in Texas. (Rick Kern/Jacky Godard/Photo12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images/)
“A small fraction of Texas budget surplus to turn this state into the new Hollywood,” Harrelson later adds.
Quaid, Thornton and Zellweger add information and commentary about the benefits of filming in Texas, and they focus on the positive financial impact on the state to make their case.
Renée Zellweger and Billy Bob Thornton also appeared in the ad, appealing to the Texas state government to boost tax incentives for filming. (Mike Marsland/Alberto E. Rodriguez)
“Texas stories deserve a Texas backdrop. That’s why I teamed up with Dennis Quaid, Woody Harrelson, Billy Bob Thornton and Renée Zellweger for True to Texas. It’s time to bring film and TV productions home!” McConaughey wrote in a post on X sharing the ad.
Quaid shared the ad on his Instagram as well.
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“Filming in Texas isn’t just about showcasing our stunning landscapes—it’s about creating jobs, boosting local economies, and building a thriving industry right here at home,” he wrote in the caption. “I was proud to collaborate with Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, Billy Bob Thornton, and Renée Zellweger to shine a spotlight on how Texas can lead the way in film production. I was also proud to have the great Nic Pizzolatto direct this spot.”
He added, “Let’s keep the cameras rolling and the economy growing—because everything’s bigger (and better) in Texas!”
Productions like the Taylor Sheridan-created series “Yellowstone” and its spinoffs “1883,” “1923” and “Lawmen: Bass Reeves,” starring Quaid, have all filmed in Texas, as well as his latest series, “Landman,” starring Thornton, with its story set in the state’s oil industry.
Last week, the Texas senate announced that it had filed a budget that includes $498 million to revamp the state’s film incentives, “making Texas the movie capital of the world” per the office of Lt. Governor Dan Patrick’s press release. The budget consists of “$48 million in grants for small films and TV commercials, and up to $450 million in new tax credits, including Texas residency requirements for workers.”
Taylor Sheridan has been leading the Texas production boom with shows like “Yellowstone” and “Landman.” (Emerson Miller/Paramount+)
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As Texas’ popularity grows with celebrity support, Hollywood itself has been struggling.
Filming in Los Angeles dropped to a historic low in 2024, down 5.6 percent from the previous year, per a report from FilmLA, the city’s film office, making it the least productive year on their record, second only to 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns. The report cited, “combined effects of runaway production, industry contraction and slower-than-hoped-for post-strike recovery” as the reason for the low numbers.
The devastating fires that broke out in early January have also contributed to worry about the state of production in the city, prompting a petition called “Stay in LA.”
A house burns as the Palisades Fire rages on in Mandeville Canyon, in Los Angeles, California, on January 11, 2025. (Reuters/Shannon Stapleton )
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“We were already deeply worried about the livelihoods of Los Angeles area cast and crew, not to mention the countless small businesses suffering from production moving out of state and overseas. The fires have made a desperate situation worse. We are terrified that the city we love so much may lose its most vital resource: its people. We need a flood of new work to help our beloved city rebuild itself and ensure LA’s future viability as a place where craftspeople, film workers, and businesses thrive,” the organization, started by Alexandra Pechman and Sarah Adina Smith, states on their page.
The petition asks state government leadership to uncap tax incentives for the next three years for productions filming in Los Angeles County and asks studios and streamers to pledge to film 10% more in the city over that same time period. It also praised Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposal to increase California’s own tax incentives for filming to $750 million.
Among those are celebrities like Keanu Reeves, Kevin Bacon, Olivia Wilde and many, many more being added every day, according to Deadline.
Keanu Reeves was one of many celebrities to sign a petition to keep production in Los Angeles. (Dave J Hogan)
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Last month, President Donald Trump appointed Mel Gibson, Sylvester Stallone and Jon Voight as Special Ambassadors to Hollywood, with the purpose of promoting business in the industry.
Mel Gibson is one of President Trump’s Hollywood ambassadors, and recently said on “Hannity” that he thinks the situation “can be fixed.” (Rodin Eckenroth/WireImage/Getty Images)
While appearing on “Hannity,” Gibson addressed the issue of work leaving the city, saying, “[People] are going somewhere else, because it’s more cost-effective. There [are] just a lot of prohibitive regulations and things in the way that I think could be lifted. . . . But I think it can be fixed.”
“I know Newsom gave some tax incentives, but maybe not enough, because it’s still not working. There are other things that offset that,” he added later.
