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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, A state replete with diverse landscapes, iconic |
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American legends, and talented residents, Texas has long been a |
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favorite location for motion picture and television productions, |
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and that rich and ongoing tradition is being celebrated on Texas |
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Film Industry Day, which is taking place at the State Capitol on |
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March 6, 2007; and |
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WHEREAS, More than 1,500 films and television programs have |
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been made in Texas since 1910, and the first movie ever to win the |
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Academy Award for Best Picture, the silent World War I epic Wings, |
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was shot in and around San Antonio; and |
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WHEREAS, Audiences all over the world have discovered the |
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Lone Star State through films and television programs made here; |
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Giant, filmed near Marfa, tells the sprawling story of cattle and |
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oil in West Texas; no less than three films about the siege of the |
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Alamo have been made in Texas, including John Wayne's 1960 epic The |
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Alamo; the film and television series Friday Night Lights tell the |
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distinctively Texan story of high school football; and week after |
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week Austin City Limits brings the best of American popular music to |
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the nation with a Texas flair; and |
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WHEREAS, Great filmmakers from all over the world have |
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journeyed to Texas to make their films; Steven Spielberg shot his |
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first feature, The Sugarland Express, here; Sam Peckinpah filmed |
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his classic thriller The Getaway in El Paso; Clint Eastwood has made |
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several films in Texas, including A Perfect World and Space |
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Cowboys; and the German director Wim Wenders shot his art house |
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masterpiece Paris, Texas in locations all over the state; and |
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WHEREAS, Texas has hosted a staggering variety of |
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productions, from independent comedies like Waiting for Guffman |
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(shot in Lockhart) to gritty westerns like Barbarosa (shot in Big |
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Bend) to war films like Courage Under Fire (shot in El Paso and |
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Austin) to sci-fi thrillers like The Faculty (shot in San Marcos) to |
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romantic comedies like Hope Floats (shot in Smithville) to classic |
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horror films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (shot in Austin); and |
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WHEREAS, Texas' own writers and directors have brought many |
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great projects to the state, including Robert Benton (Bonnie and |
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Clyde, Places in the Heart), Horton Foote (Tender Mercies, The Trip |
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to Bountiful), and William Witliff (Lonesome Dove, Honeysuckle |
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Rose, Raggedy Man); and |
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WHEREAS, A younger generation of dynamic Texan filmmakers is |
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carrying on this great tradition, including Wes Anderson (Bottle |
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Rocket, Rushmore), Richard Linklater (Slacker, Dazed and Confused, |
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The Newton Boys), Robert Rodriguez (Spy Kids, Sin City), and John |
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Lee Hancock (The Alamo, The Rookie); and |
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WHEREAS, Archer City's own Larry McMurtry, the Pulitzer |
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Prize-winning novelist and Academy Award-winning screenwriter, has |
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seen 10 of his novels made into films and miniseries in his home |
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state, including Lonesome Dove, Terms of Endearment, Hud, The Last |
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Picture Show, and Texasville; these productions have contributed |
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$65 million to the state's economy; and |
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WHEREAS, Filmmakers have been drawn from all over the world |
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by this vast state's diverse locations, from the metropolitan |
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cities of Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, El Paso, San Antonio, and |
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Austin, to such colorful locations as Lockhart, Martindale, Marfa, |
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Caddo Lake, Dripping Springs, Bartlett, Roma, the Alamo Village |
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near Bracketville, and the spectacular Big Bend National Park; when |
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Texas isn't playing itself, the state has also stood in for such |
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locations as Berlin, Afghanistan, Africa, Manhattan, Morocco, and |
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Washington DC; and |
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WHEREAS, Texas is equally blessed with a roster of |
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world-class performers; Texas actors, in roles both large and |
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small, have brought their considerable talents to every kind of |
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film and television project in Texas, and have helped make the |
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Dallas area a national center for commercial and corporate |
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production; and |
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WHEREAS, Texas is the birthplace of Academy Award winners |
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Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones, Renee Zellweger, Jamie Foxx, and |
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Forest Whitaker, and of Emmy winners Carol Burnett and Steve |
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Martin; other outstanding Texas actors include Debbie Allen, Alexis |
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Bledel, Cyd Charisse, Barry Corbin, Hilary Duff, Morgan Fairchild, |
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Farrah Fawcett, Jennifer Garner, Larry Hagman, Beyoncé, Eva |
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Longoria, Matthew McConaughey, Fess Parker, Bill Paxton, Dennis |
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Quaid, Randy Quaid, Debbie Reynolds, Patrick Swayze, Henry Thomas, |
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Janine Turner, Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, and Robin Wright Penn; and |
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WHEREAS, Along with extensive production facilities in |
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Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, and Houston, the large |
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corps of professional, resident film crew members is one of the |
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state's major assets in attracting film production; in the last 10 |
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years alone, film dollars spent in Texas have topped $1.7 billion; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, With the invaluable assistance of the Texas Film |
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Commission, founded by Governor Preston Smith in 1971, and regional |
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film commissions in Austin, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Amarillo, |
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Brownsville, El Paso, and South Padre Island, the Texas film and |
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television industry continues to thrive, building on a nearly |
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100-year-old tradition of great filmmaking, and looking forward to |
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an even more exciting future; thus it is fitting that the many past |
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successes and brilliant promise of this exciting industry be |
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celebrated today; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 80th Texas |
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Legislature hereby recognize March 6, 2007, as Texas Film Industry |
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Day at the State Capitol and express its best wishes for the |
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continued success of this essential part of Texas culture and |
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commerce. |