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    Houston in the Spotlight

    TV travel star finds lots of Places to Love in Houston while filming new series here

    Marcy de Luna
    May 2, 2017 | 10:15 am
    Houston, Samantha Brown Places to Love TV Show, April 2017
    Samantha Brown was in Houston to gather material for the first episode of her new travel series, which appears to be shaping up as a love letter to the Bayou City.
    Photo courtesy of Samantha Brown/Facebook

    With high culinary praise from the likes of celeb chef David Chang and the New York Times to a well-regarded role as host of Super Bowl LI, Houston is attracting attention beyond Texas. Some of the biggest names in reality TV have discovered America's fourth largest city, including Guy Fieri, who filmed several local restaurants for upcoming episodes of his popular Food Network show, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, and celeb chef, author, and world traveler Anthony Bourdain, who dispelled stereotypes when he filmed Parts Unknown here.

    Now world travel ace Samantha Brown is shining the spotlight on the Bayou City in the premiere of new TV show, Places to Love. In each half-hour episode, Brown plans to seek out the little-known spots and haunts, with a focus on topics including food and drink, art and design, culture and adventure.

    The Dallas-born former host of a decade of Travel Channel TV shows will premiere the show on PBS in January, 2018. She was in Houston last month to gather material for the first episode, which appears to be shaping up as a love letter to the Bayou City. Here’s an idea of what to expect, using several social media posts as our guide.

    A post shared by Samantha Brown (@samanthabrowntravels) on

    Apr 4, 2017 at 5:17pm PDT

    Brown paid a visit to chef Hugo Ortega newest restaurant, Xochi, sharing the snap above on Instagram with the caption, “A spoon full of sugar makes the Larva go down.”

    A post shared by Samantha Brown (@samanthabrowntravels) on

    Apr 4, 2017 at 1:00pm PDT

    In another Instagram post, Brown shared a photo at Saint Arnold Brewing Company, standing next to colorful convertible automobile. The caption reads, “Sure beats my minivan! This is an Art Car. Houstonians love to paint their cars. It's a popular form of artistic expression! And the Houston Art Car parade is this weekend.”

    A post shared by Mark C. Austin (@mcaphoto) on

    Apr 3, 2017 at 10:04am PDT

    Brown hit the Continental Club with music manager and promoter Mark C. Austin of The Convoy Group and Kam Franklin, lead singer of The Suffers.

    Austin's post reads,”Had an absolute blast working with @samanthabrowntravels and @thesuffers yesterday. Can't wait to see the output of Samantha's time in Houston. Very special thanks to Pete Gordon of @contclubhouston and Holly Clapham and the fine folks at @visit_houston. #myhouston #houstonfirst”

    A post shared by Samantha Brown (@samanthabrowntravels) on

    Apr 11, 2017 at 2:41pm PDT

    Brown was also at Houston microenterprise initiative The Community Cloth, which helps refugee women by providing seed grants, training, and peer support for the creation and selling of handmade, indigenous arts and crafts.

    “This is Khatera. While in Houston I filmed at Community Cloth an initiative that empowers refugee women by helping them create handmade items: jewelry, bags, blankets based on their skills from home. Khatera is from Afghanistan, has her green card, is going to school to be a nurse and hopes to be sworn in as an American citizen next year. I ❤️ what I get to do in life. thecommunitycloth.org/ #placestolove,” Brown wrote on her Instagram post.

    In addition to Houston, Brown posted photos from Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Maxine’s Cafe & Bakery in Bastrop, and a Sunday house in Fredericksburg.

    Over the last 17 years, Brown has traveled around the world, visiting over 260 cities in 62 countries. Her laundry list of hit shows on the Travel Channel include Great Vacation Homes, Great Hotels, Girl Meets Hawaii, Passport to Europe, Passport to Latin America, Green Getaways, Passport to China, and Great Weekends.

    For updates on Places to Love, head to Samantha Brown’s website.

    tv
    news/entertainment

    In the spotlight

    Houston reels in new rank among 10 best cities for filmmakers in 2026

    Amber Heckler
    Feb 27, 2026 | 4:00 pm
    Filmmaking, best cities for filmmakers
    Photo by Kyle Loftus on Unsplash
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    Houston has just snapped up new recognition as the No. 10 best place to live and work as a filmmaker in North America, according to MovieMaker Magazine's annual report, "The Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker in 2026."

    The Bayou City has made improvements after ranking 12th in the magazine's 2025 list.

    The annual list ranks the best cities in the U.S. and Canada for individuals to live while working in the film industry, based on production spending, tax incentives, cost of living, the prevalence of "local film scenes," and additional factors. The list is divided into two categories: 25 big cities and 10 smaller cities or towns.

    The spotlighted cities are the places where the publication believes filmmakers "have the best chance of both succeeding in the famously difficult entertainment industry, and making [their] own art."

    For up-and-coming filmmakers that want to live in Texas, MovieMaker says doing it in Houston is "more sustainable than ever" thanks to incentives like the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program, which increased its production grant rebate from 22.5 percent to up to 31 percent for qualified in-state spending. The report also said Houston has an "arms-wide-open" approach for filmmakers.

    "As the biggest city in Texas, and fourth biggest city in America, Houston has nearly every type of location, from cityscapes to piney woods to rolling hills to nearby farmland," the report said. "It’s close to Galveston Island and the Gulf of Mexico, and car commercials love the absence of billboard advertising."

    MovieMaker also highlighted Houston's diversity, its low cost of living compared to the national average, and its local festivals like the Houston Cinema Arts Festival and Houston Latino Film Festival.

    "The city has enough film crew for two to three sizable features, and recent shoots have included the thrillers Eleven Days, with Taylor Kitsch, and A Love, from director Courtney Glaude, Tyler Perry Studios’ executive creator of Scripted and Unscripted," the report said. "Houston is also notable for a strong contingent of films with budgets under $1 million."

    Elsewhere in Texas, Austin ranked as the No. 5 best place to live and work as a filmmaker in North America. Dallas ranked seventh, while neighboring Fort Worth ranked 12th. San Antonio appeared as No. 14, and El Paso landed 25th on the list.

    filmmakingmoviemaker magazinerankingscity lifeentertainmenthouston
    news/entertainment
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