Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson testify in support of Texas film incentives bill

AUSTIN, Texas - There was some Hollywood star power in Austin on Monday.

Actors Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson testified before the Senate Finance Committee in support of legislation to beef up an incentive plan for the entertainment industry.

Senate Bill 22

The backstory:

Lockhart became a film set back in July when the TV western series "1923" came to town. The production was one of several entertainment projects lured to Texas with money from an incentive program. 

On Monday, state Sen. Joan Huffman (R-Houston) pitched legislation to revamp the program.

"For every dollar paid in a grant, $4.69 is spent in the state, according to the office of the governor," said Huffman.

Senate Bill 22 pumps $500 million every two years into the new Texas Moving Image Incentive Program. The grant money comes with several strings attached. There is bonus money for using rural areas and a rejection clause for scripts that put Texas in a negative light.

"It further codifies a list of projects that are currently not eligible for reimbursement, such as: pornography or obscene material, political advertising, casino-type video games, and more," said Huffman.

What they're saying:

The committee hearing featured a unique cast of supporting characters that included Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. SB 22 is a priority bill for Patrick, but his attendance was overshadowed by actors Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. 

Earlier this year, the two teamed up with fellow Texan Dennis Quaid and met with the Lt. Governor. The meeting came after the three released a promotional movie trailer for the incentive program. 

In the video, Quaid suggested a "Wholesale takeover." Harrelson responded by saying, "A small fraction of the Texas budget surplus could turn this state into the new Hollywood."

In the committee hearing, the Texas story pitch came with a plot twist when McConaughey testified.

"So, I'm going to propose a bigger thought here. I'm going to propose doubling down on, if we pass this bill, what we can do. How do we do that? Number one, we train our own workforce. We partner with local community colleges and tech schools across the state of Texas, and we get Texan men and women trained and certified to learn the below the line trade jobs needed to make films," said McConaughey. 

Lawmakers were told that local communities could be prepared for the way jobs programs are done for more traditional industries.

"We have a real pipeline. We have infrastructure, we have wood screws, not Velcro," said McConaughey.

Doing that, McConaughey suggested, would make Texas a permanent supporting cast member. The grant money, with the infrastructure, would exceed what's being done by Georgia and New Mexico. 

It was even argued that eventually, providing a financial incentive may no longer be necessary.

"This is how Texas becomes its own profitable and self-sustaining industry. This is how Texas becomes more than just a destination for out-of-state productions. This is how Texas becomes more than just a tax-incentivized advertisement, with hey, come shoot here. If we do this, we begin to create our own industry. We do this, we start to create our own pipeline of film and television, which, in turn, means producers and financiers are not going to want to go to other states because they don't have the infrastructure that we'll have, and they're too expensive," said McConaughey.

Chad Gundersen, a producer for the TV series "The Chosen", also spoke to the committee. He agreed with McConaughey that the new infrastructure system should also include post-production work. 

Gunderson noted how Texas A&M has a great animation program, but a lot of the Aggie graduates leave Texas to find work.