SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 422

WHEREAS, A state replete with diverse landscapes, iconic American legends, and talented residents, Texas has long been a favorite location for motion picture and television productions, and that rich and ongoing tradition is being celebrated on Texas Film Industry Day, which is taking place at the State Capitol on March 6, 2007; and

WHEREAS, More than 1,500 films and television programs have been made in Texas since 1910, and the first movie ever to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, the silent World War I epic Wings, was shot in and around San Antonio; and

WHEREAS, Audiences all over the world have discovered the Lone Star State through films and television programs made here; Giant, filmed near Marfa, tells the sprawling story of cattle and oil in West Texas; no less than three films about the siege of the Alamo have been made in Texas, including John Wayne's 1960 epic The Alamo; the film and television series Friday Night Lights tell the distinctively Texan story of high school football; and week after week Austin City Limits brings the best of American popular music to the nation with a Texas flair; and

WHEREAS, Great filmmakers from all over the world have journeyed to Texas to make their films; Steven Spielberg shot his first feature, The Sugarland Express, here; Sam Peckinpah filmed his classic thriller The Getaway in El Paso; Clint Eastwood has made several films in Texas, including A Perfect World and Space Cowboys; and the German director Wim Wenders shot his art house masterpiece Paris, Texas in locations all over the state; and

WHEREAS, Texas has hosted a staggering variety of productions, from independent comedies like Waiting for Guffman (shot in Lockhart) to gritty westerns like Barbarosa (shot in Big Bend) to war films like Courage Under Fire (shot in El Paso and Austin) to sci-fi thrillers like The Faculty (shot in San Marcos) to romantic comedies like Hope Floats (shot in Smithville) to classic horror films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (shot in Austin); and

WHEREAS, Texas' own writers and directors have brought many great projects to the state, including Robert Benton (Bonnie and Clyde, Places in the Heart), Horton Foote (Tender Mercies, The Trip to Bountiful), and William Witliff (Lonesome Dove, Honeysuckle Rose, Raggedy Man); and

WHEREAS, A younger generation of dynamic Texan filmmakers is carrying on this great tradition, including Wes Anderson (Bottle Rocket, Rushmore), Richard Linklater (Slacker, Dazed and Confused, The Newton Boys), Robert Rodriguez (Spy Kids, Sin City), and John Lee Hancock (The Alamo, The Rookie); and

WHEREAS, Archer City's own Larry McMurtry, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and Academy Award-winning screenwriter, has seen 10 of his novels made into films and miniseries in his home state, including Lonesome Dove, Terms of Endearment, Hud, The Last Picture Show, and Texasville; these productions have contributed $65 million to the state's economy; and

WHEREAS, Filmmakers have been drawn from all over the world by this vast state's diverse locations, from the metropolitan cities of Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, El Paso, San Antonio, and Austin, to such colorful locations as Lockhart, Martindale, Marfa, Caddo Lake, Dripping Springs, Bartlett, Roma, the Alamo Village near Bracketville, and the spectacular Big Bend National Park; when Texas is not playing itself, the state has also stood in for such locations as Berlin, Afghanistan, Africa, Manhattan, Morocco, and Washington, D.C.; and

WHEREAS, Texas is equally blessed with a roster of world-class performers; Texas actors, in roles both large and small, have brought their considerable talents to every kind of film and television project in Texas, and have helped make the Dallas area a national center for commercial and corporate production; and

WHEREAS, Texas is the birthplace of Academy Award winners Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones, Renee Zellweger, Jamie Foxx, and Forest Whitaker, and of Emmy winners Carol Burnett and Steve Martin; other outstanding Texas actors include Debbie Allen, Alexis Bledel, Cyd Charisse, Barry Corbin, Hilary Duff, Morgan Fairchild, Farrah Fawcett, Jennifer Garner, Larry Hagman, Beyoncé, Eva Longoria, Matthew McConaughey, Fess Parker, Bill Paxton, Dennis Quaid, Randy Quaid, Debbie Reynolds, Patrick Swayze, Henry Thomas, Janine Turner, Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, and Robin Wright Penn; and

WHEREAS, Along with extensive production facilities in Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, and Houston, the large corps of professional, resident film crew members is one of the state's major assets in attracting film production; in the last 10 years alone, film dollars spent in Texas have topped $1.7 billion; and

WHEREAS, With the invaluable assistance of the Texas Film Commission, founded by Governor Preston Smith in 1971, and regional film commissions in Austin, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Amarillo, Brownsville, El Paso, and South Padre Island, the Texas film and television industry continues to thrive, building on a nearly 100-year-old tradition of great filmmaking, and looking forward to an even more exciting future; thus it is fitting that the many past successes and brilliant promise of this exciting industry be celebrated today; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 80th Legislature, hereby recognize March 6, 2007, as Texas Film Industry Day at the State Capitol and express its best wishes for the continued success of this essential part of Texas culture and commerce. Carona, Deuell

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President of the Senate

I hereby certify that the above Resolution was adopted by the Senate on March 6, 2007.

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Secretary of the Senate

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Member, Texas Senate

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Member, Texas Senate