Lights! Camera! Dallas!

Dallas steps into the spotlight as a top city for moviemaking

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Lots of movie-making going on in Texas.

Photo by Ruben Garcia

Dallas is reeling in a new creative accolade. On January 26, MovieMaker magazine released its annual list of the best places to live and work as a moviemaker, and Dallas stepped into the spotlight as No. 12 on the "big cities" list.

Like so many Americans impacted by the pandemic, filmmakers are looking outside of the traditional film hubs — Los Angeles and New York — to find other cities conducive to the craft. In ranking the best cities, MovieMaker concedes that the COVID-19 crisis is changing the industry (and its annual list).

"Best Places Hall of Famers Los Angeles and New York City will always be our greatest movie cities, and the strong lockdowns they’ve instituted over the last year will make them stronger in the long run," the magazine says. "But in the short term, they’re losing people to other great film cities, as many who have spent months inside insist on more space, lower housing costs, and more great outdoors."

Like all Texas cities, Dallas reaps the rewards of Texas' tax incentives, but its cost of living is lower than the national average, giving filmmakers the chance to not only survive financially, but thrive.

North Texas also boasts a bevy of film festivals, including The Dallas International Film Festival, Oak Cliff Film Festival, Dallas VideoFest, EarthxFilm, and Asian Film Festival of Dallas, that provide up-and-coming artists a platform to showcase their work and help cultivate the film community. This weekend, in fact, neighboring Denton is hosting a virtual Black Film Festival, and the Sundance Film Festival is being shown at Texas Theatre.

“It’s common for burgeoning filmmakers to work on each other’s films, which has created a true sense of community. Additionally, many filmmakers will work as crew and even talent on television projects of all types and sizes, as well as commercials, corporate films, music videos, etc., in between their own projects in order to gain valuable experience and make a living,” says Janis Burklund, director of the Dallas Film Commission.

Dallas keeps good company in the list, between No. 13-Cincinnati and No. 11-Toronto.

Not surprisingly, Austin came in higher, earning the No. 3 spot.

MovieMaker notes that many LA- and New York-based filmmakers have decamped to Austin in recent months, a city anchored by Austin Studios and Robert Rodriguez's Troublemaker Studios, among others.

Along with statewide tax incentives available in all Texas cities, the magazine notes Austin's proximity to a range of filming locations, including "urban scenes to small towns, ranchland, lakes and just about anything else you can imagine," as well as the creative community's collaborative spirit.

“There is plenty of community spirit to be found among filmmakers in the bigger cities — but then, all your filmmaker pals in New York and LA are devoting their full energies to trying to survive their own daily trials there,” says Austin-based moviemaker Andrew Bujalski, whose films include Support the Girls and Results. “Austin is the only place I’ve known where, when a project gets going, everyone seems to drop what they’re doing to come help.”

Joining Austin and Dallas on the list is San Antonio, at No. 22.

Highlighting the city's variety of filming locations, which range from the historic to the modern, MovieMaker also calls out the city's variety of creative resources, including The Parish, the Brownstone Studios and Alamo City Studios, and the San Antonio Film Commission. It's also worth noting that permits are free for filming if the location is owned by the city.

“The fact that San Antonio earned this recognition from MovieMaker — even with new safety requirements to prevent the spread of COVID-19 — is encouraging news that demonstrates the progress made possible by our City Department of Arts and Culture’s efforts,” said Mayor Ron Nirenberg in a press release. “Our work to welcome and encourage filmmakers will continue to provide opportunities for us to become an increasingly desirable location for the film industry.”

Surprisingly, despite a three-month shutdown, crews actually filmed 348 days in San Antonio last year, up from 342 days in 2019.

Joining third-place Austin among the top big cities are Albuquerque (No. 1) and Atlanta (No. 2). Among small cities, New Orleans (No. 1), Santa Fe (No. 2), and Pittsburgh (No. 3) took the top spots.

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Dallas Cowboys News

Metal roof piece at Cowboys' AT&T Stadium in Arlington falls on field

AT&T Stadium Facebook

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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — A piece of the roof at the home of the Dallas Cowboys fell to the field while the retractable portion of it was being opened at least three hours before a 34-10 loss to Houston on Monday night, officials said.

AT&T Stadium was mostly empty when the incident occurred, and team officials said nobody was injured. The roof was closed without incident about an hour later.

Officials said winds gusting to 30 mph during the day contributed to the incident, which was being reviewed to ensure the roof can be opened safely at some point in the future. The roof hasn’t been opened for a Cowboys game in their $1.2 billion stadium since the 2022 season.

“I know we opened it long before any fans or anybody is in there,” owner Jerry Jones said after the game. “The reason they do that is to make sure everything is working to avoid those kinds of risks if there’s any fans or anybody in here.”

Jones said there wasn’t any risk in going on with the game, which meant a delay or postponement wasn’t a consideration.

“They wouldn’t have done this game, or started this game, had there been any risk at all,” Jones said. “Not only the NFL wouldn’t, but I wouldn’t if there was any risk at all. And there was no risk at all when we started the game.”

The arches that support the roof are nearly 300 feet above the field at their highest point. The 80,000-seat venue opened in 2009.The falling debris came a little more than a week after Dallas receiver CeeDee Lamb said the sun was in his eyes on a throw he didn’t react to in the end zone in a 34-6 loss to Philadelphia.

AT&T Stadium has an unusual east-west alignment from end zone to end zone, as opposed to most venues being north-south. On clear days, the sun shines through the large glass windows on the west side during the first half of games that kick off in the afternoon.

There is usually a call for curtains on the west side of the stadium when the sun becomes an issue, but Jones says he won’t put up curtains. He says both teams have to deal with the sun.

When AT&T Stadium hosted the Super Bowl in 2011, six workers were injured when ice and snow fell from the roof. The event was plagued by a historic ice storm that gripped the Dallas area for days.

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