Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson have staged a True Detective reunion in a new ad written and directed by series creator Nic Pizzolatto.
The video (below) for True to Texas urges the Texas legislature to create new incentives for film and TV productions to shoot in the Lone Star State.
The spot also includes appearances by Dennis Quaid, Billy Bob Thornton, and Renée Zellweger.
“Hollywood is flat circle Woody,” drawls McConaughey like his character Rusty Cohle in the first season of the HBO series. “This industry is like somebody’s memory of an industry. I’m talking about a whole new hub for film and television. A renaissance. A rebirth.”
“A small fraction of Texas budget surplus to turn this state into the new Hollywood,” adds Harrelson.
“If all these other states are going to offer incentives than that’s where we’re going to keep going, I just wish we could bring some of these productions home to Texas,” says Zellweger.
“Ain’t all that money like corporate welfare for big Hollywood studios?” wonders Harrelson.
“No, it’s not,” counters McConaughey. “Real Texas business owners and citizens see every dollar spent from this incentive put $4 back into the state of Texas.”
Texas celebrities have been lobbying the legislature to boost film and TV incentives to better compete with states like Georgia and New Mexico. In October, Yellowstone co-creator Taylor Sheridan told lawmakers, “One of my great frustrations was that I wrote Hell or High Water, and they filmed the darn thing in New Mexico. My love story to Texas was shot west of where it should have been shot.”
Last week, the Texas senate filed a budget that included $498 million to revamp the Texas Film Incentive, “making Texas the movie capital of the world.” The budget will consist of two parts: $48 million in grants for small films and TV commercials, and up to $450 million in new tax credits, including Texas residency requirements for workers.
