For years, the Texas film incentive was a punchline — underfunded, unpredictable, gone by spring. A producer would budget around it and then watch the fund run dry mid-year. That story is over. As of mid-2026, the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program (TMIIIP) is the most consequential it has ever been, and the reason is a single bill: Senate Bill 22.
The Headline Number
SB 22, passed by the Texas Legislature in 2025 and effective September 1, 2025, committed $1.5 billion over ten years to the program. Crucially, it did this through a statutorily directed biennial transfer into a dedicated fund — roughly $300 million every two years — with a sunset date of August 31, 2035.
That word “dedicated” is the whole story. The old program lived and died on each legislative session's appetite. The new structure puts money in the account on a schedule. A producer can now plan a multi-year slate around Texas the way they'd plan around Georgia or New Mexico. That stability is worth more than the rate.
How the Rates Work Now
The grant is structured as a rebate on qualified in-state spending, tiered by budget:
| Production Budget | Base Grant Rate | |-------------------|-----------------| | Under $1 million | 5% | | $1M – $5M | 10% | | $5M – $10M | 22.5% | | Over $10M | 25% |
On top of the base rate sit stackable uplifts — for Texas hiring, for shooting in underused areas, for Texas universities and veterans — that can push the effective rebate to roughly 31% for a qualifying production. That figure is the one you'll see in headlines, and it's real, but it's a ceiling, not a default. Read the uplift rules before you bank on it.
What You Have to Bring to the Table
The eligibility floor is meaningful and worth stating plainly:
- Minimum $250,000 in eligible Texas spending.
- At least 60% of the production completed in Texas.
- At least 35% of paid cast and crew are Texas residents.
That residency requirement is the load-bearing wall of the whole program. Texas isn't paying you to truck in a California crew. It's paying you to hire Texans — which is exactly why the crew job market has caught fire (more on that in our jobs coverage).
How and When to Apply
The mechanics are unromantic but matter. Projects submit an Incentive Inquiry Form to request an application link. You may apply no earlier than 180 days before your first day of production and no later than 5 PM, five business days before production begins. Miss that window and you're out, no matter how Texan your shoot is.
Funds are allocated as projects are approved, so the practical advice is the same as it's always been, just with more money behind it: apply early in the biennium. A dedicated fund is not an infinite fund. For current fund-availability questions, the incentive team takes calls at 512-463-9200.
The Bottom Line
Texas spent a decade being the state with great locations and a frustrating incentive. SB 22 closed that gap. The rate is now competitive, the funding is now reliable, and the residency rules mean the benefit actually lands on Texas workers. If you're producing anything in 2026 and Texas isn't on your location shortlist, you owe it to your budget to run the numbers again.
TMIIIP / Texas Film Commission: gov.texas.gov/film/page/tmiiip
Incentive team: 512-463-9200