| |
| |
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
|
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 |
|
|
Moving Image Industry Day at the State Capitol on March 4, 2009; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, More than 1,600 films and television programs have |
|
|
been made in Texas since 1910; 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 fewer than nine 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 tells the |
|
|
distinctively Texan story of high school football, and 10 years |
|
|
after its release, Hope Floats continues to draw tourists to its |
|
|
locations in Smithville and Central Texas; week after week since |
|
|
1976, Austin City Limits, the longest-running television concert |
|
|
series, is still bringing the best of 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 San Marcos and El Paso, Clint |
|
|
Eastwood made A Perfect World and Space Cowboys in Texas, and the |
|
|
German director Wim Wenders shot his art house masterpiece Paris, |
|
|
Texas in locations all over the state; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, The Lone Star State's own writers and directors have |
|
|
produced many great projects here, including Robert Benton (Bonnie |
|
|
and Clyde, Places in the Heart), Horton Foote (Tender Mercies, The |
|
|
Trip to Bountiful), William Witliff (Lonesome Dove, Honeysuckle |
|
|
Rose, Raggedy Man), Wes Anderson (Bottle Rocket, Rushmore), Richard |
|
|
Linklater (Slacker, Dazed and Confused, The Newton Boys), Tim |
|
|
McCanlies (Secondhand Lions), Robert Rodriguez (Spy Kids, Sin |
|
|
City), and John Lee Hancock (The Alamo, The Rookie); and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Texas has hosted a staggering variety of |
|
|
productions, from independent films like Waiting for Guffman (shot |
|
|
in Lockhart) to classic westerns like Lonesome Dove (shot near Del |
|
|
Rio), as well as war films like Courage Under Fire (shot in El |
|
|
Paso), over-the-top family adventure comedies like the three Spy |
|
|
Kids films (shot in Austin), romantic comedies like Miss |
|
|
Congeniality (shot in San Antonio), and classic horror films like |
|
|
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (shot in Austin); the state has also |
|
|
been the location for such Academy Award-winning features as No |
|
|
Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood (both shot in Marfa), |
|
|
Boys Don't Cry (shot in Greenville), Places in the Heart (shot in |
|
|
Waxahachie), and Terms of Endearment (shot in Houston); and |
|
|
WHEREAS, The state is known for its highly skilled film |
|
|
technicians, whose expertise is so well-regarded that most films |
|
|
shot in Texas hire primarily local crews; the state also boasts a |
|
|
strong base of acting talent, and specialized film vendors and |
|
|
services have been a strong part of the state's economy for more |
|
|
than two decades; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, With more than 90 companies, Texas is the third |
|
|
largest center for the development of video games, whose highly |
|
|
skilled workers have created such popular titles as Quake from Id |
|
|
Software, Ultima Online, a groundbreaking multiplayer game from |
|
|
Origin Systems, and Age of Empires from Ensemble Studios, as well as |
|
|
military simulation training games for the U.S. Army; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Over the past decade, the moving image industry, |
|
|
including film, television, video, commercials, animation, and |
|
|
interactive video games, has spent more than $2.2 billion and |
|
|
created over 38,000 jobs in Texas, and the contributions of this |
|
|
dynamic industry to Texas, and of Texans to this industry, are truly |
|
|
worthy of recognition; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 81st Texas |
|
|
Legislature hereby recognize March 4, 2009, as Texas Moving Image |
|
|
Industry Day at the State Capitol and commend the industry's many |
|
|
talented individuals for their creativity, hard work, and |
|
|
determination. |