The program was created in part due to demand for crew members to support the growing number of television shows and movies filmed in North Texas. Buoyed by the success of producer Taylor Sheridan with “Yellowstone,” more productions are being filmed in the Fort Worth area.
The partnership between the film commission and TCC led to the first-ever film collaborative graduation Sept. 2 at TCC’s campus in Hurst. The ceremony had 26 students honored for completing four- or six-month certificate programs.
What’s happening?
The program could open doors for jobs such as Sheridan’s new SGS Studios or 48 other Fort Worth-based production companies, according to a news release.
The Fort Worth Film Collaborative offers job training in set construction, grip, electric, post-production and stage operation, which started for the 2024-25 school year at TCC.
The film commission partnered with 101 Studios in fall 2024 to help with production on several of Sheridan’s projects. Some of his credits filmed in North Texas were “1883” and “Landman,” according to the Visit Fort Worth website.
By the numbers
- 29 total certificates have been awarded for the FWFC program
- 26 students earned certificates
- 24 students enrolled in the fall 2025 semester for the FWFC
- 9 students are scheduled to graduate from the FWFC by end of 2025
- 4 police officers hired each day for filming in Fort Worth for security
- 192 cast members• in “Landman”
- 2,572 extras in “Landman”
Chad Jones, Radio Television and Film instructor at TCC, said the school offers an associate degree in radio, television and film and that it has 150 students enrolled.
SGS Studios is taking part in the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program, which makes film projects eligible for up to a 31% rebate on costs by creating jobs and paying eligible wages to Texas residents. Some FWFC students received jobs in productions before graduation.
The largest film production studio in Texas received a Media Production Development Zone approval by the city of Fort Worth in December 2024 and by the Texas Film Commission in January. That includes the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program by creating jobs in Texas, making filming projects eligible for up to a 31% rebate on costs based on expenditures and eligible wages paid to Texas residents.
Student Jason Toledo helped with prep work for filming of “Lioness” in Fort Worth.
Another FWFC student, Maggie Hong received her certificate in grip certificate on Sept. 2 and is working on her electric certificate this semester to help boost her skillset.
The Fort Worth North Side graduate is currently a freelancer in film editing and worked on the set “The Chosen” in Midlothian this spring.
Zooming in
The partnership with the film commission provides an additional 26 students.
Toledo is a real estate agent, but now also operates Toledo Co-T Films, saying he caught the film bug and jumped right in.
He worked with classmates Josh Cornelius, Jordan Parks, Karenth Guzman and Cole Harvey on “The Hem,” a horror film by Fort Worth-based Howdy Films, that came out in October.
Parks, who once worked at the TCC bookstore, is now a video freelancer and started work on Season 3 of “Lioness” as a production assistant.
“There’s an opportunity here for not a lot of investment for someone to come and get skilled up in a discipline pretty quickly ... to get on set,” Jones said.
What's next
Filming at SGS Studios started in March with the second season of “Landman.”
Construction is currently ongoing to expand the production space in the Alliance area, with more than $4 million in projects going on at 2601 Spirit Drive and 2701 Spirit Drive.
These studios feature additional sound stages, post-production suites, vendor support and scalable infrastructure designed to attract top-tier productions and long-term tenants, according to a Hillwood news release. Hillwood is a real estate development company.
This year the Texas Legislature approved Senate Bill 22, which invested $1.5 billion in Texas film incentives and took effect Sept. 1. To receive the incentives, producers need to have a certain number of Texans actually on set.
“We are building something permanent that will be the centerpiece for one of the most state-of-the-art studios in the business,” Sheridan said in an Aug. 13 news release from Hillwood.
