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Shot in Texas
Notes from working in Texas film.


The AFS grant machine keeps paying for the next Texas filmmakers.
Fifteen short-film grants from 225 applications, a feature cycle worth up to $20,000, and a March gala at Troublemaker Studios. How Austin funds its own.

Nick Barr
Aug 262 min read


Austin's screens are in flux and the nonprofit is the one expanding.
The Paramount goes dark for a $65 million restoration while AFS Cinema builds a 179-seat third screen. What that says about who's betting on theatrical here.

Nick Barr
Aug 262 min read


SXSW at 40: Spielberg, the AI question, and a room that felt alive.
The festival cut two days, lost its convention center, and still premiered ninety world premieres. What we took home from March.

Nick Barr
Aug 262 min read


Odie: what shooting a feature in Texas taught me about the budget.
I directed and produced Odie in Austin this spring. Three things I'd budget differently, one thing Texas gave me that no other state would have, and no company-level claims.

Nick Barr
Aug 203 min read


Stage space in Texas, honestly.
What actually exists, who runs it, and what's still a rendering. Austin, Fort Worth, Dallas, Midlothian, Bastrop, San Marcos, Mansfield, sorted honestly, no rates.

Nick Barr
Jul 235 min read


The Texas producer of record: what an out-of-state show actually needs on the ground.
You already have a line producer. Here is what the Texas half of your production office does that they can't, from the Odie shoot, and the honest cases where you don't need it.

Nick Barr
Jul 93 min read
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