‘Film Texas!’ Newsletter | January 1979
In celebration of the Texas Film Commission's 50th Anniversary, we went to the archives to see how our history has been shaped by the initiatives, programs and productions from the past 50 years. View more from the archives here. #TFC50
January 1979 | This month in TFC History: The January 1979 edition of the 'Film Texas!' saw the emergence of Texas writers taking more control over their projects. Bill Witliff, a writer in Austin, was one of those gaining control. In a development deal with Warner Brothers, he and the studio agreed to a two-picture deal, both pictures written and coproduced (with the studio) by him. The newsletter notes:
Usually, writers have no control over how their efforts end up on the screen and quite often an original screenplay is re-written by others before it goes into production. By being able to produce what he writes, Wittliff hopes to have not only more control, but more freedom to present an intelligent view of his native state.
His first project, details of which cannot be revealed yet, will be filmed in Texas.