Austin, Texas Tinseltown

So, are you excited about Machete? That was the fake film trailer that Robert Rodriguez created for  Grindhouse, starring his go-to bad guy played by Danny Trejo. But the trailer was so well-received, Rodriguez is now making the movie.

This is big news for Rodriguez fans. Rodriguez made waves with the groundbreaking El Mariachi, then Desperado, then Spy Kids, then … well, the rest is film history. It’s also big news for the Austin film industry, which has been languishing of late. See, Texas once lured filmmakers with financial incentives, making it a little Hollywood. Some stars moved here (Sandra Bullock), some never left (Matthew McConaughey).

Then the stars got a little tarnished, and other states horned in on the action. Hey, if it worked for Texas, then film incentives would also work for Louisiana and New Mexico. And they did, to the extent that Friday Night Lights, the TV series about Texas high school football, almost decamped for Louisiana. Sacrilege! But they stayed, and now actors including Taylor Kitsch can be seen roaming the chic streets of SoCo. (Also, Kitsch has been known to play ice hockey at the local rinks, as befits a Canadian.)

Rodriguez and Troublemaker Studios producer Elizabeth Avellan lobbied the Texas legislature to renew those incentives. There are plenty of people here involved in the industry behind the scenes. The film industry is important to the local economy. It’s not just actors coming in for six weeks and then moving on to their next project. There are local artists, craftsmen, and services personnel who all make a film production work. They live here in Texas. This is what they do.

I like movies, and it’s fun to see the trailers where the magic is happening (not so fun when you are trying to get somewhere, admittedly). But maybe more importantly, I like what the film industry contributes to my home town. In 2004, that was $360 million per year. Hard to argue with those numbers.

Glad to have you back, Machete.

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Image from Troublemaker Studios.