Moving to PLANO TX

lynx

Active member
Like to find out if you have anybody from Plano or Dallas. Going to move from CA and wanted to find out if anyone is working on a project in those areas. Do you know of any work in production companies or any suggestions on the industry in the area.

Do you also know if there are any companies out there that rent equipment for shoots?

Thanks so much.
 
right across the border, in Shreveport LA theres tons of big movies being made.... "Hollywood South" (or so they say)

umm.... and as far as I know, many of the bigger companies/crews in Dallas have kinda migrated operations over there... but theres still a lot of video / TV stuff going on in Dallas... its just such a gigantic market..... and theres some large ad agencies based there... so yeah Dallas is rocking as far as production work goes... (as far as I know)

try the Dallas Film Commission for links to all the companies in the area.

:beer:
 
Oh puuuulease, you don't have to go far to see productions being made if you're moving to Plano. There in Irvine, think where the Texas Stadium is located, is where you'll find some studios. They were shooting stufff back when I lived there. Saw two scenes of Texas Ranger with Chuck Norris being filmed. Dang that guy could back kick someone in the gut.

There are studios nearby, take a look and you'll know where to go.
 
I think the studio's you're talking about are in Las Colinas (The Studios of Las Colinas), but still in the same general area. I've got a friend who got his start as a tour guide there, of all things. Haven't heard about a lot of production work in Irving, but I could just be out of the loop on that one.

And hoofandmouf (really dude, that's the name you pick?), actually, since Katrina hit, an estimated 80% of the production and post houses based in LA picked up and moved over to the Dallas area. I'm not sure if they're all still here, but we're still booming from it. Kind of a bitter sweet...

Prison Break was here shooting for almost two years, but left a few months ago. They were the cheapest bastards anyone's seen around here, but it was steady work and when people couldn't find work, they always had that to fall back on. Mark Cuban is pouring money into his production company (2929 Entertainment) and getting A-list movies made, Austin is always doing well in the scene, and there's always a huge Commercial market around town (most of the steady work).

Anyway, Lynx, what exactly do you do, and what kind of work are you looking for? I've got pretty much all the connections you'd need in the metroplex. Lots of close friends in the industry ranging from PA's to Audio guys to DP's to Producers to Directors. Also in good with the owner of one of the larger rental houses in the area (Michael J. Ciancio) if you need rentals.

-brown
 
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Oh puuuulease, you don't have to go far to see productions being made if you're moving to Plano. There in Irvine, think where the Texas Stadium is located, is where you'll find some studios. They were shooting stufff back when I lived there. Saw two scenes of Texas Ranger with Chuck Norris being filmed. Dang that guy could back kick someone in the gut.

There are studios nearby, take a look and you'll know where to go.

Charli, you need to reconnect with your Tejas roots. It's "Irving", not "Irvine". Also, the new stadium is in Arlington. :)
 
Hey Ryan, I'll be the first to admit, I'm no expert on the DFW scene. I'm originally from Louisiana and I know there are a ton of films being shot in Shreveport. And from my understanding (and this was coming from an old buddy of mine in Austin at the time) it was that Louisiana was kind of "taking" the good crew folks from Texas. Well.... rather.... the good crew folks from Texas were all in Louisiana working. I don't know if its still like that but when I was working on big budget films back in Louisiana, I met many a folk from Austin/Dallas. Way more so than any other place. Again, I'm no expert on the scene and I'm sure you have way more info on the Dallas scene and whats going on now. This was a couple years back.

the DFW metro area is way huge and I do know that its always been a hub for production in the South/Southwest, even way before Louisiana hit the scene with its tax credits and all that. Which are expiring this month or so I hear. It'll be interesting to see what happens in a year or two.

and thats right, I forgot Mark Cuban had a studio down there. So to the original homeboy that started the thread, you're gonna be moving to an area with an abundance of production work.... you'll be set.

ps... it was a choice between hoofandmouf and BIGMTVBOOTYSHAKER.... I chose hoofandmouf
 
also due to the Hurricanes....

it drove many a production houses / films / producers to the North LA area (ie: Shreveport)

the hub of LA production was NOLA, Katrina ruined that...

which is why I'm sure Dallas got some of that runoff (maybe thats not a good word) but what I mean is that Dallas, with its proximity to Shreveport, got a few extra productions and houses moving to town.

cheers yall!!
 
I live on the Dallas/Plano border. The closest studio to me is AMS, which is just a couple miles away along the Dallas North Tollway.
 
Ryan -- I've met Michael before. Seemed like a good guy.

He really is. He's ALWAYS more than willing to help out, and even encourage, the younger people to break into the business.

Not sure if I should mention this, but he give's me and my crew anything we need as far as lights and gear, for FREE. Even if we need a truckload... if we're not making money off of it (private projects, shorts, music vids,etc), he'll let us take whatever we want that's not already on reserve for a [paying] client.

He's also got a Phantom HD that I've been trying to get out to play with:thumbup:
 
Hey guys,

Thanks all for replying and all your helpful information. I will reread and absorb all the hints you suggested. I appreciate all the feedback.

Just another question, can you make an actual living in the DFW area on production work?

Thanks again.
 
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