Jessica in Wonderland

About a year ago, Aaron Glenn Holloway off-handedly described Fort Worth as one of the worst cities for finding locations to shoot. Holloway is a Dallas-based location manager for movies and TV, a “glorified wedding planner,” as he has said, hiring security, parking, tents, and portable johns, seeking neighborhood approval for shoots, and generally clearing the way for a production to get started.

In the past, preparing for productions in Fort Worth could become frustrating,

“You would call the permitting office,” he said. “They were always very kind, but they didn’t know the drill and didn’t understand the value [of film production] to the city. They had a standard policy of three weeks out for permitting.”

By contrast, Dallas needed only two or three days for permitting. Los Angeles does permitting in a matter of hours.

“We didn’t even consider Fort Worth when we were considering houses, downtown cityscapes, or streets,” he said. “Now it’s different with the film commission coming in. TV shows are considering shooting in Fort Worth. There is a lot of money that gets pumped into a city when these things are working.”

Location managers look for places that are visually suitable but also accommodating to crews with large trucks, cameras, and equipment. Fort Worth has modern buildings, old buildings, upscale and modest neighborhoods, and urban and rural settings in close vicinity. Drive 10 minutes out of town, and you can find wide-open country. The cost of living around here is among the lowest in the country, making gasoline, hotels, and other purchases easier on the wallet.

“I’m glad Fort Worth is making a push because it’s good for a city,” he said. “Fort Worth is a timeless-looking city. I would love to do more work there.”

Holloway credits Christopherson for the quick improvements in booking locations and connecting with crews.  Holloway needed a ranch location recently to shoot a truck commercial, and he called Christopherson. She secured a location in about an hour.

“She has been so responsive,” he said. “She immediately jumps on it. Before, Fort Worth didn’t have that contact person. That’s a big, big deal. Otherwise, [filmmakers] just go to Dallas.”

Local filmmaker Adam Dietrich points to the Dallas Film Commission to show what an impact a centralized point of contact can have for attracting business. He expects Fort Worth’s commission to get there one day. The city hasn’t been known for its abundance of film projects. Changing that perception will take time, he said. Embracing the film community involves everyone, not just the insiders, Dietrich said. Regular people have to want filmmakers to be here as well, because those filmmakers rely on access to locations –– people’s homes, properties, parks, public streets, and so on.

“Communities that welcome filmmaking see that growth,” Dietrich said. “We’ve had a lot of great productions happen in Texas over the last 30 or 40 years that range from commercials to industrial work to films. In the time I’ve been around, it’s been difficult for Fort Worth to even get on the map as an option, particularly for the bigger and better the productions.”

Having two film commissions in close vicinity can create a simpatico relationship that will benefit both cities and all film productions in the area. For instance, Bomb City producer Chick selected both cities for various locations. Without a local film commission, he might have just focused on Dallas spots.

“It would be great to have both cities going full steam,” Holloway said. “It takes time to spread the word. My peers didn’t even know there was a film commission in Fort Worth. It’s a game changer in our world.”