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SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 422
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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 |
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have been made in Texas since 1910, and the first movie ever to |
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win the Academy Award for Best Picture, the silent World War I |
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epic Wings, 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 |
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The Alamo; the film and television series Friday Night Lights |
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tell the distinctively Texan story of high school football; and |
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week after week Austin City Limits brings the best of American |
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popular music to 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 |
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made 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 |
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Big Bend) to war films like Courage Under Fire (shot in El Paso |
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and Austin) to sci-fi thrillers like The Faculty (shot in |
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San Marcos) to romantic comedies like Hope Floats (shot in |
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Smithville) to classic horror films like The Texas Chainsaw |
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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 |
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Trip to Bountiful), and William Witliff (Lonesome Dove, |
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Honeysuckle Rose, Raggedy Man); and |
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WHEREAS, A younger generation of dynamic Texan filmmakers |
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is carrying on this great tradition, including Wes Anderson |
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(Bottle Rocket, Rushmore), Richard Linklater (Slacker, Dazed and |
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Confused, The Newton Boys), Robert Rodriguez (Spy Kids, Sin |
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City), and John 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, |
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has seen 10 of his novels made into films and miniseries in his |
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home state, including Lonesome Dove, Terms of Endearment, Hud, |
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The Last Picture Show, and Texasville; these productions have |
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contributed $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, |
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Marfa, Caddo Lake, Dripping Springs, Bartlett, Roma, the Alamo |
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Village near Bracketville, and the spectacular Big Bend National |
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Park; when Texas is not playing itself, the state has also stood |
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in for such locations as Berlin, Afghanistan, Africa, Manhattan, |
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Morocco, and Washington, D.C.; 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 Martin; |
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other outstanding Texas actors include Debbie Allen, Alexis Bledel, |
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Cyd Charisse, Barry Corbin, Hilary Duff, Morgan Fairchild, |
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Farrah Fawcett, Jennifer Garner, Larry Hagman, Beyoncé, |
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Eva Longoria, Matthew McConaughey, Fess Parker, Bill Paxton, |
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Dennis Quaid, Randy Quaid, Debbie Reynolds, Patrick Swayze, |
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Henry Thomas, Janine Turner, Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, and |
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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 |
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regional film commissions in Austin, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, |
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Amarillo, Brownsville, El Paso, and South Padre Island, the Texas |
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film and television industry continues to thrive, building on a |
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nearly 100-year-old tradition of great filmmaking, and looking |
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forward to an even more exciting future; thus it is fitting that |
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the many past successes and brilliant promise of this exciting |
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industry be celebrated today; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, |
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80th Legislature, hereby recognize March 6, 2007, as Texas Film |
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Industry Day at the State Capitol and express its best wishes for |
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the continued success of this essential part of Texas culture and |
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commerce. |
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Carona, Deuell |
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President of the Senate |
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I hereby certify that the |
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above Resolution was adopted by |
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the Senate on March 6, 2007. |
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________________________________ |
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Secretary of the Senate |
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________________________________ |
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Member, Texas Senate |
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________________________________ |
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Member, Texas Senate |