1. (a) Background.

   1. (1) The Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program offers grants equal to 5% of total in-state spending, including wages paid to Texas residents. Grants are available upon project completion to feature films, television programs, commercials, and video games. Both live-action and animated projects are eligible. These grants are in addition to our existing Sales Tax Exemptions.
   2. (2) The State of Texas has allocated $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 (September 1, 2007 to August 31, 2008) and $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2009 (September 1, 2008 to August 31, 2009) for the Incentive Program. Applicants will not be able to receive funding until after September 1, 2007.

2. (b) Purpose.

   1. (1) The Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program was implemented to increase employment opportunities for Texas industry professionals, as well as boost economic activity in Texas cities and the overall Texas economy. Rather than Texas being an exporter of talent, Texas can now attract a wide range of projects from traditional film and commercial productions to the technology driven animation and video game productions.
   2. (2) This program allows for growth of the indigenous segments of production. It is an important goal of this program to have Texas' talented workforce stay in Texas and realize real professional growth in the industry. The incentive program increases the value of the Texas workforce and the viability of the small businesses that rely on production activity, increasing Texas' capacity to take on more production activity and increasing Texas competitive edge.

Source Note:The provisions of this §121.1 adopted to be effective March 10, 2008, 33 TexReg 2019.