T h e R e e l D e a l

Download The Reel Deal Program and Resource Directory (8-page PDF)

Report from the event:

“The Reel Deal: The Business of Film. What It Means for You. What It Means for Houston” on Thursday, 24 April was a major success with 180 registrants from Los Angeles, Austin and Chicago in addition to Houston. As part of the evening, Creative Houston published a guide, the most comprehensive listing of film resources in Houston ever put in print. In keeping with our efforts to support sustainable business practices, we will be sending out an online survey to all 180 registrants to gauge their satisfaction with the event in detail and gather their ideas for follow-up. Once the service responses are received and tallied, the results will be posted on the Creative Houston website. 

Some of the ideas to follow up the event are already in the planning stages including a meeting of high profile industry panelists from in front of and behind the cameras giving their candid assessments and insights into what Houston should do next to be a major player in filmmaking and a think tank or task force on financial innovation that would try and come up with strategies that would be attractive to investors such as an investment fund that focuses on film made in and about Houston. Further, successful regions preserve and cultivate the local human and physical infrastructure important to film making by coordinating with local educational institutions and professional organizations to provide targeted training programs designed to assure an adequate supply of local support personnel. This can include curriculum development, tuition support and financial incentives for production companies to employ trainees at both entry and advancement levels. We will certainly want to examine this more fully and develop some programming to address this issue. 

The competitive environment for attracting film production will remain heightened for the foreseeable future. As a result, Houston needs to be as proactive and coordinated as possible in marketing itself to film and the rest of the visual media community. With many other states and communities ramping up their efforts to attract the film industry, it would be a mistake for Houston to take anything that it is doing for granted. The advantages of filming in Houston need to be clearly communicated and understood; therefore, resources should be devoted to marketing and relationship-building. This presents another opportunity for follow-up.

Finally, there is no doubt that film and film-related activity can make a very positive contribution to the Houston area economy, since the total impact could extend into the hundreds of millions of dollars annually, while supporting thousands of jobs. That having been said, the non-measurable impacts may be even greater. Much energy and effort in the recent past has gone into analyzing the reasons that the "creative class" finds various cities so appealing, with the widespread availability of unusual and/or indigenous visual media clearly a major piece of the puzzle. Houston is a place that appreciates creativity in a variety of forms yet it is clear that with regard to location preference we are very far down on the list for the "creative class." Film-related activity could add to Houston’s cachet, improving our City's image and help to attract and retain talented people.  The other area where film could have an influence on the economy is in promoting the community to the outside world - to the extent that Houston is shown in the locations where films are shot, the "brand" of Houston will be enhanced.

In many ways, film making in Houston is like the latest hot restaurant – attention to detail, commitment to customer service, and continued investment are what are required at this point in order to build and grow the buzz. Creative Houston is looking forward to playing a leading role in helping to make Houston a center of film making. Visit the website often to learn more about what is happening.