Taylor Sheridan, Ross Perot Jr. Tap Texas Film Incentives

Ross Perot Jr. and Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan are teaming up to cash in on $1.5 billion in incentives created by the Texas Legislature to lure film production to the state

They plan to expand film production at Sheridan’s SGS Studios, a Fort Worth facility in AllianceTexas, a 27,000-acre master-planned community developed by Perot’s Hillwood Development, Bloomberg reported.

SGS Studios will operate the studio and eventually build at least 10 stages. There is already space for four simultaneous productions, SGS Studios co-founder David Glasser told the outlet.

“It will be something that hasn’t been done in Texas before,” Glasser said. Glasser is also the CEO of 101 Studios.

Two buildings spanning 450,000 square feet have already been built, and some scenes for Sheridan’s show “Landman” were filmed there. Hillwood’s conversion of the two buildings to studio space was estimated to cost $65 million, or $144 per square foot.

The Texas incentives are expected to boost the local film industry in an effort to compete with Los Angeles and Georgia. SGS Studios and 101 Studios are reportedly working with a local community college to train students for film jobs.

In recent years film studios have been announced elsewhere in Texas, including Hill Country Studios in San Marcos, a 209-acre project announced in 2023 and led by Cory McLoud and Netflix studios veteran Kevin Bar. Los Angeles-based Creative Tank’s Super Studios in Mansfield is slated to include 400,000 square feet of sound stages as well as hotel, retail and residential components. Bastrop 552, a 456-acre, $50 million studio is proposed by developer Alton Butler. And the $100 million Wyldwood Studios is also planned for Bastrop by actor Zachary Levi.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles is losing ground in the industry. On-location filming in Los Angeles fell 22 percent in the first quarter year-over-year, with soundstage occupancy dropping to 63 percent, according to FilmLA.— Eric Weilbacher