Governor Abbott Announces Film Friendly Texas & Digital Media Friendly Texas Virtual Workshop

October 21, 2024 | Austin, Texas | Press Release

Governor Greg Abbott and the Texas Film Commission today announced a combined Film Friendly Texas & Digital Media Friendly Texas Workshop to be held virtually on November 14. Communities across Texas interested in pursuing local job creation and economic expansion strategies by becoming Film Friendly Texas or Digital Media Friendly Texas Certified Communities are invited to attend.

“Texas is a leader for media production, creating a positive economic impact in communities across our great state,” said Governor Abbott. “With a rich history of film and TV production spanning more than a century, Texas is the premier destination for production across media industries, including digital media. The Texas Film Commission works with our community partners to market their unique attributes, attract new investments in media production, and drive local job growth. I invite all Texas communities to attend this virtual workshop to leverage the advantages of being certified as Film Friendly Texas and Digital Media Friendly Texas Communities.”

The workshop cohosted by the Texas Film Commission, Visit El Paso, and the El Paso Film Festival offers professional development and information sessions, including "How to Become a Film Friendly Texas Certified Community" and "How to Become a Digital Media Friendly Texas Certified Community.”

Community leaders who are employed by their city or county government, convention and visitors bureau, chamber of commerce, or local economic development corporation and who will serve as the designated Film Friendly Texas and/or Digital Media Friendly Texas liaison for facilitating media production inquiries are encouraged to attend the virtual workshop.

Attending a Texas Film Commission workshop is one of the required steps for certification as a Film Friendly Texas Community and a Digital Media Friendly Texas Community. The virtual nature of the workshop presents a great opportunity to fulfill workshop attendance components of both programs.

Film Friendly Texas & Digital Media Friendly Texas Virtual Workshop

Thursday, November 14 at 9:30 AM – 12:45 PM CT

For more information and to register for the Film Friendly Texas & Digital Media Friendly Texas Virtual Workshop, visit: gov.texas.gov/film/page/fftx_workshops.

The Film Friendly Texas Certified Community program launched in 2007 and now includes more than 175 Film Friendly Texas Certified Communities that are ​focused on developing media production industries in Texas to encourage job creation and economic growth. To learn more, visit: gov.texas.gov/film/page/fftx_overview.

The new Digital Media Friendly Texas Certified Community program launched earlier this year to help Texas communities attract digital media production across the state and grow local jobs in animation, visual effects (VFX), video games, and extended reality (XR). To learn more, visit: gov.texas.gov/film/page/dmftx_overview.

For more than 50 years, the Texas Film Commission has helped grow local jobs and economies by promoting Texas as the premier destination for film, television, commercial, animation, visual effects, video game, and extended reality production. The Texas Film Commission in the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and Tourism has attracted more than $2.5 billion in local spending and created more than 189,000 production jobs across the state from 2007 to 2024.