Visit Austin official outlines film industry’s tourism value and waits on big state incentive bill

Brian Gannon, senior director of the Visit Austin Film Commission, told the Austin Tourism Commission on April 9 that commercial, television and feature film production are a steady source of tourism-related spending and local jobs — and that state incentives will determine how much production Austin can attract.

Gannon said Visit Austin markets the region’s diverse locations and local crew base to productions that primarily originate in Los Angeles, and that the office serves as an intermediary between productions and permitting and police contacts. “We advocate for production that's on the ground,” he said. “We don't finance or regulate, but we point productions to permitting offices.”

The nut graph: Gannon gave concrete recent examples of production impact in Austin and said the outcome of proposed statewide funding — referenced in the meeting as Senate Bill 22 and House Bill 4568 — would be a major driver of future production, room nights and local spending. He urged the commission to view film production as a sustained tourism generator that also supports local vendors, hotels and crew careers.

Gannon outlined the local film ecosystem: an accredited city-level film office inside Visit Austin; studio and retrofit facilities such as Austin Studios, ATX Film Studios and Troublemaker Studios; a vendor and crew marketplace; and marketing and sales missions to Los Angeles. He said commercial shoots are “kind of the bread and butter” and described film tourism products such as a local film-tour guide that maps movie locations to businesses that can benefit from visitor spending.

He provided recent production impacts that his office tracks: Walker averaged about 1,700 room nights per season and about $45 million in local spend; Fear the Walking Dead produced about 8,500 room nights and $55 million in local impact per season while it filmed in the region; and the series 1923 generated about $38 million in local impact and about 26,000 room nights during its production year in the region.

Gannon also described tools that lower production costs: a city incentive that, per the presentation, returns a percentage of qualifying local wages and a state-level sales-tax exemption for production materials. He said the Texas Media Production Alliance and other industry groups are advocating for more robust state incentives; meeting remarks cited SB 22 and HB 4568, a legislative package described by speakers as proposing sustained funding and higher base percentages for production incentives.

On the policy outlook, he said lawmakers were moving the bills through committees and that public testimony from Austin-based talent and producers had drawn attention. “If this bill passes, I think there'll be a before and after,” he said, describing the proposals as a potential long-term funding stream that would reduce the biennial volatility of the current program.

Commissioners asked about competitors and the role of incentives. Gannon named Georgia (Atlanta, Savannah), New Orleans, Albuquerque and Tulsa/Oklahoma City as jurisdictions that use incentives and built studio capacity to capture production. He stressed that incentives are the single biggest lever in location decisions but added non‑financial advantages — fast permitting, local crew depth, varied locations and a hospitality infrastructure — are important in Austin’s appeal.

Ending: Gannon concluded by urging the commission to view film production as a tourism and jobs engine that supports hotels, restaurants and local arts workers, and to track the state incentive legislation’s progress. “We'd hopefully see a huge spike in production” if the bills pass, he said.