Founding CEO Fiona Bond of Creative Waco and Production & Community Relations Specialist Gabriel Ornelas of the Texas Film Commission talk to Fest Track about incentives, approach and context of filming in Texas and Waco as part of the Deep In The Heart Film Festival in Waco, Texas.
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00:57 - So with the Texas Home Commission,
01:22 we have our Texas Moving Image Incentives Program.
01:26 And that is an incentives program, it's a rebate program.
01:29 So it's a program that is designed to spend,
01:32 for productions to hire Texans and spend money in Texas.
01:37 And it's a rebate program.
01:38 So these, it's an incentives program that is designed
01:40 so when a production goes through the application process
01:44 and does get selected,
01:46 then after they are done with their production,
01:48 they can actually see some of those dollars
01:49 come back to them.
01:50 But the motivation there, the incentive there,
01:52 is for them to spend their money in communities like Waco
01:55 and throughout the state of Texas,
01:57 and hire Texans because we wanna hire.
01:59 There's a wonderful crew here
02:00 and there's a lot of people ready to work
02:02 and excited to work.
02:03 And so us having, creating those,
02:06 helping create those opportunities
02:07 along with the individual communities,
02:10 I mean, it's a game changer.
02:11 - It's very much part of Waco's story right now.
02:13 And so we have some really practical ways
02:15 that we can support filmmakers
02:17 that want to make their films here.
02:19 The first is that we do have grant programs.
02:22 It has to, the grant has to come from a local filmmaker.
02:27 So that means partnering with people on the ground here.
02:30 So anyone can come in, work with a local filmmaker,
02:32 and they can apply to us.
02:35 We have, right now we have four grant making programs.
02:38 - Wow.
02:39 - Two of them are relevant to filmmaking.
02:42 One of them is ARPA based, American Rescue Plan based.
02:46 And the other is for generating innovation
02:49 in our community, things that are going to move the needle
02:52 on growing Waco as a hub for arts and culture.
02:55 And that's been extremely successful.
02:57 We, in the four years since it started,
03:02 that has magnified funding available
03:05 for creative projects and programs tenfold
03:08 for our community.
03:09 So it's been extremely successful.
03:12 But what we are also wanting to do,
03:14 and I think this actually, you know,
03:16 this represents streamlining efficiency
03:20 and cost savings for filmmakers.
03:22 And that is, we have a really good infrastructure
03:25 for finding locations and very affordable locations
03:29 that are eager to participate in filmmaking.
03:32 Getting permissions, we have a kind of infrastructure
03:35 for getting permissions.
03:36 For example, with all our public arts in Waco,
03:40 we can essentially do an aggregated waiver
03:43 that allows filmmakers to be able to film anything
03:46 that includes copyrighted material in public arts.
03:51 And then also sourcing expertise.
03:55 You know, as I was saying earlier,
03:56 we have a very, very networked community of filmmakers.
04:00 So whether it is a specific skillset you need,
04:04 or whether it's post-production support,
04:06 or whether it's studio space, we can always find it.
04:10 And then props.
04:12 And we have, we actually have several people involved
04:16 with the festival who are in the antiques business,
04:21 or in the, you know, are able to source
04:23 the most bizarre things, usually within 24 hours.
04:27 I have never yet had a circumstance
04:30 where we have not been able to find something
04:31 really specific within 24 hours.
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04:37 the last time I did that for myself,
04:42 I wanted to just say hi, and thank you so much,
04:47 I'm Laura Sanborn, all volunteers.
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05:05 Thank you so much, I'm Laura Sanborn, all volunteers.
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06:07 - Our film is about one family's journey with odds,
06:11 but it's also just about a mother's love for her son.
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06:20 And, you know, especially in a place
06:26 that is as exuberant and as fast growing as Waco,
06:30 there is a, there's kind of a delight
06:32 in connecting people who take an active pleasure
06:37 in being able to help other creatives
06:40 and bring their creativity to someone else's project.
06:43 - You know, I think it's kind of speaking to,
06:46 it's the enthusiasm, it's, in my role,
06:50 I have the opportunity and really good fortune
06:53 to be able to work across the state
06:54 with different communities and really seeing
06:56 each individual community's enthusiasm.
06:59 And it's, whether it was on this locations tour,
07:02 but people are really excited about their communities
07:05 and celebrating and sharing
07:07 and showing off their communities.
07:08 And so in working with this statewide program
07:11 and with the work we do with the Texas Film Commission,
07:14 I mean, it's exciting to be able to support that
07:16 as far as people really kind of coming to the table
07:19 saying it's like, we have something to offer
07:21 and bringing the creativity into that
07:23 and seeing what comes out of that.
07:25 I mean, that's something special, I think.
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