Starring, Texas!

Why the new Dallas probably won't be shot in Dallas: Budget deficit could crushTexas film industry

Don't expect to see the new "Dallas" get filmed in ... Dallas.
In the filming, it's all about which state provides the best incentives.
Rick Perry seems to be on the Texas film industry's side, but that might not beenough.

Photo by L.M. Otero/AP Photo

While some of you probably don’t care one whit if TNT's reboot of the television series Dallas actually gets shot in Dallas or not, I can personally assure you that our governor does. (More on that in a sec.)

Once again, news has come that the iconic show will return to TV and once again, we don’t know where its production will take place.

According to Variety, Ted Turner has “big plans” for a new go at the popular series that ran from 1978 until 1991 and was, indeed, filmed mostly up the road in Big D. Turner’s TNT-TBS programming chief Michael Wright believes writer Cynthia Cidre has scripted “a compelling updated scenario” that will enthrall the audiences of today (many of whom weren’t even born when the show was practically a national pastime). He says she “found something authentic to business and to Dallas that allows them to trade on the same dynamic of the super wealthy.”

So … will it really be authentic and be shot in the show’s namesake town once again?

Though this latest announcement came just days ago, Janis Burklund, film commissioner for Dallas, says she is still waiting (and waiting and waiting) on word whether or not the production will come her way. She’s been playing this game with the basic cable network for a long time, and yet they say production will begin “in only a few months.”

What it really boils down to is how cost effective can the real city be as the production location (or will it ultimately be cheaper to let some other city stand-in for Dallas — God forbid it be Shreveport. No kidding. That’s a possibility.) Location is a budgetary decision.

Having a TV series (or feature film for that matter) produced in your city has a whopping economic impact and competition to land a production is fierce. That’s why so many states have created incentive packages to draw those lucrative shows to their backyards. Texas has motion picture production incentives too; however, they were only passed by the legislature a few years ago.

They are modest compared to more aggressive states like Louisiana and New Mexico, but at least we’re back in the ballgame after almost totally losing our Texas production industry to states like Louisiana and New Mexico (are you seeing the pattern here?).

With the state of Texas facing a serious budget shortfall our incentives could be in jeopardy. And if they go, I can’t imagine Dallas would be shot in Dallas. If it hasn’t been a slam dunk now, it sure as hell isn’t likely to be with no incentives. (I previously reported that native Texan John Lee Hancock told me he shot The Blind Side in Georgia because the Peach State made it $4 million cheaper to do than his home state.)

If it wasn't snowing in Atlanta, they’d probably still be dancing in the streets over how much money that production brought in.

Improbable location stand-ins happen all the time. Think the 2006 movie Annapolis was shot in Maryland at the U.S. Naval Academy? Nope, it was shot in Pennsylvania at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.

The old saying “you’ve got to spend money to make money” is so true in the case of TV and film production, but it took us years and years to convince Texas lawmakers of that.

Our Texas incentives are simply state grants given to production companies after they have completed production and only after audits prove they hired the required number of Texans, shot the required number of days in state and met all other legal qualifiers that ensure they don’t get a dime until they have invested heavily in our economy.

Incentive grants are not a “hand out to Hollywood” but a hand up for jobs for Texans and the myriad businesses, whether Mom-and-Pop or large chains, that will continue to be in business because more productions come to town.

Governor Perry, for one, gets it. While we might not see eye to eye on all things political, this is one where we’ve shaken hands and agreed eye to eye in both Austin and Houston. Let’s hope the majority our legislators continue to get it as well. Not only should our incentives be retained, they should be increased so that more production business and jobs come our way. We should continue to build in order to continue to gain.

Maybe then Dallas really can be shot in Dallas.

Cynthia Neely is a veteran of the Texas motion picture industry who helped found the Texas Motion Picture Alliance.

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Music feature

Texas country star Cody Johnson's new album goes to 'Banks of Trinity'

Photo by Cameron Powell

Cody Johnson.

There's a moment at every Cody Johnson show where the Texas-born-and-bred country star asks the crowd, “How many of you tonight are watching me and this band live for the very first time?” he told The Associated Press. “And every night, I would say at least 80% of the crowd raises their hands.”

It's not the kind of reaction most veteran artists receive. “And I’m thinking, you know, 20 years is a long time to work for something. But when you see that … What’s the next 20 years look like?” he asks.

The rancher, rodeo competitor, and onetime prison guard started his two-decade career playing honky tonks and dive bars. That led to slow and steady growth for the country traditionalist, but in the last few years, something has shifted. He landed his fifth career No. 1 song with “The Fall.” He was named Entertainer of the Year at the 2026 Academy of Country Music Awards, the show's highest honor. That was a month after he headlined Stagecoach Music Festival. For an artist with legions of fans, it looked like he was accessing new heights.

“I feel like I’m closing a book and I’m opening another one and it’s all blank pages,” he says of this period. “Let's get to the next chapter." On June 26, that new era began with the release of his latest album, Banks of the Trinity.

Traveling to the Banks of the Trinity
It hasn't been an easy road. Last fall, Johnson had to cancel a bunch of tour dates after upper respiratory and sinus infections caused a burst eardrum that required surgery — an intimidating medical procedure for anyone, but especially nerve-wracking for a musician. “I was scared,” he said simply. But “in a roundabout way, it’s one of the best things that’s ever happened to me.”

It forced him to take three months off, which allowed him to be home during the birth of his son. It also rejuvenated his approach in the studio. Before the incident, he thought the album was complete. It was not. The additional time resulted in the inclusion of a few songs that now feel inextricable from the record: “Thank Somebody Country,” “Take Me Back (Leave Me There),” “Cricket on a Hook,” and the resilient “I Have” among them.

“What a blessing to have that kind of song fall in your lap when you’re kind of up against the ropes,” he says of the latter. “I mean, we thought we had the record done. It wasn’t done.”

A title track with real resonance
At the heart of Banks of the Trinity is its title track, which recalls Eagles' cover of “Seven Bridges Road” meets bluegrass and Southern gospel.

Lyrically, it's an ode to Johnson's childhood. “I grew up on the banks of the Trinity [River.] Fishing for catfish, not so much out of pleasure or sport but for necessity to put food in the freezer. Deer season for me was not a trophy thing,” he said.

And while that track inspires a feeling of nostalgia within the listener, he doesn't consider this album a throwback collection. He says it's about showcasing his evolving sonic diversity.

"The rest of the album for me is a musical journey from track one to track 16,” he said. “There’s a little bit of a flavor for everybody. It does kind of hit Motown. It does kind of hit bluegrass. It does hit progressive country. It does it old country. It does a little rock here and there.”

It's the result of a new kind of freedom, one that is at least partially due to his recent accomplishments, including taking home the top prize at the ACM Awards.

“I just did the thing that I’ve aspired to do in my career my entire life,” he says. “A really good place is a really good way to describe where I am.”

And now that the album is out, he's ready to take a breather.

“I will be shirtless with no shoes on a beach at an undisclosed location,” he jokes about the days after record release. “'Cause I have already done all the prep work. I've been working on this album for two years. I’ve done all of the interviews. I’ve shook all the hands. Me and my wife and kids are gonna disappear for 10 days and I’m gonna become, I guess, every Kenny Chesney song ever.”

texas country artist cody johnson interview music

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Music feature

Texas country star Cody Johnson's new album goes to 'Banks of Trinity'