Dallas Film Commission

The Hotel St. Germain, Some Prison

Texas Film Industry Spends Money to Make Money

The Calatrava Bridges of Movies

J.R.'s Not Dead. He's Just Resting.

Gimme a Break

It's All About Perspective

Bennifer Can't Do Dallas

Do You Have an Airstrip?

Prison Breaking in Dallas

Scouting Dallas...in Louisiana

I Hope They Shoot It on Uranus

More Ewing Need to Know About "Dallas"

Ewing Better Have a Better Plan Than This

AFI Dallas: Fancy, But Not Too

Two Pieces of Proposed Legislation Could Finally Make Folks Want to Film in Texas

At the end of January, state Sen. Bob Deuell of Greenville introduced S.B.No. 605, which would dramatically alter the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program -- by, well, actually offering incentives. Right now, the state has but $22 million to give to folks looking to shoot their movies or TV ... More >>

There's Probably Not Gonna Be a Dallas Movie. But a New TV Show? Looks Like It.

Patrick MichelsLarry Hagman, Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray at Southfork Ranch at the Dallas reunion in November '08​Can't believe it -- we get to use our "Ugh, More New About the Dallas Movie" slug again, long after that remake died a slow death some time in '07. Only this time, according to The Ne ... More >>

City to Take Film, TV Biz Out of DCVB's Hands and Hand It Over to Economic Development

For the last week, this sign directing folks to The Deep End set has been posted at the Walnut Hill Lane exit on the Dallas North Tollway.​Since its inception in October 2002, the Dallas Film Commission has been charged with trying to lure filmmakers to Dallas -- no easy task, given that until rec ... More >>

"Going Forward, the City is Going to Be All About Synergy," In Case You Were Wondering

​I'd forgotten, till he called me back a few minutes ago, that I'd left Karl Zavitkovsky, head of the city's Office of Economic Development, a message Monday morning concerning the Dallas Film Commission's pending move into City Hall. Nonetheless, he was kind enough to further explain the reason f ... More >>

Dallas Lands New Fox Series Starring Colin Hanks and Bradley Whitford as Cops

Bradley Whitford​Janis Burklund, head of the Dallas Film Commission, breaks the big news: "We have landed the Fox TV Studios production Jack and Dan." Which, for those who don't read The Hollywood Reporter, is the latest series from Burn Notice creator and exec producer Matt Nix. And it's set to s ... More >>

Now, There's a Writer for the Small-Screen Dallas Do-Over. Ewing Excited Yet?

​We're probably a long ways off from finding out if TNT and Warner Bros. TV plan on shooting their small-screen Dallas remake in Dallas. Which hasn't stopped me from leaving messages all morning for Janis Burklund, head of the Dallas Film Commission, to see if she knows what's what on the heels of ... More >>

The City's Trying to Make It Easier For Public and Private Dollars to Partner Up

​Trying (but, so far, failing) to get down to Dallas City Hall this morning for the Economic Development Committee meeting this morning; so many interesting items on the agenda. We've covered some, but not all -- like, for instance, this review of the city's public-private partnership program that ... More >>

Is Another TV Show About to Start Shooting in Dallas? Right Now, No One's Saying. Officially.

​Rumor 'round town is that another TV show's setting up production offices in Dallas -- this one, from the man responsible for everything from Armageddon and Top Gun to the C.S.I. franchise, among his myriad hit teevee shows. And, yes, that's one Jerry Bruckheinmer, the man who once told me he mak ... More >>

With One TV Series and Two More Pilots Filming Here, Dallas Has Never Been Busier

(500) Days of Summer director Marc Webb is scheduled to shoot the Midland pilot for FOX in Dallas beginning one month from today.​Seems not so long ago that then-Dallas Mayor Laura Miller and Dallas Film Commission director Janis Burklund were staging a press conference in the Dallas City Hall Fla ... More >>

Let's Cut to the Chase: Would You Like to Be an Extra in a Jerry Bruckheimer Pilot?

​If ABC's axed the shot-in-Dallas The Deep End, well, that comes as no surprise -- it was all but inevitable given its low ratings and the critical drubbing. But there's been no official word, only this Saturday story that says Thursday night's episode will be the last ever aired unless ABC can fi ... More >>

It's So True: Anyone Can Host a Late-Night TV Talk Show. Yes, Even You.

​This got buried beneath the stack of legal docs currently devouring my desk, but I'd just hate it if you missed out on Your Big Break: Spike TV, the network for dudes and Star Wars movie marathons and Entourage reruns, is looking for a couple of broheims to host a talk show. Only, it's not yer av ... More >>

If Dallas Is Starting to Feel Like One Big TV-Show Set, There's a Good Reason

Woodrow principal Ruth Allen Vail and Jesse Metcalfe​Today's the day FOX's Midland starts shooting in and around Dallas, with (500) Days of Summer's Marc Webb directing, Up in the Air and Juno's Eric Steelberg shooting, Jon Voight and David Keith co-starring and In Good Company's Paul Weitz exec p ... More >>

Since NBC Has Picked Up Jerry Bruckheimer's Chase, What Does That Mean For Dallas?

NBC UniversalThe cast of Chase, from left: Kelli Giddish as Annie Frost, Amaury Nolasco as Marco Martinez, Cole Hauser as Jimmy Godfrey, Kelli Giddish as Annie Frost, Rose Rollins as Daisy Ogbaa and Jesse Metcalfe as Luke Watson​Yesterday -- a full week before networks officially begin unveiling t ... More >>

Developer Jack Matthews Among Those Partnering to Build Movie, TV Studio in Cedars

​For weeks we've wondered: When will Dallas get around to building an honest-to-God movie-television production facility? Because the city's filling up with shows, but production companies have scant options: Fair Park, which The Good Guys will have to adios upon its August return (fingers crossed ... More >>

West End to Be Busier Than Usual Tomorrow Morning as NBC's Chase to Stage, Well, a Chase

​Like I said last week, NBC's Chase, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, has started shooting in and around town -- which is why, between 9 and 11 a.m. tomorrow (though it could run till 2 p.m., fair warning), you'll notice a helicopter hovering over the West End. Per a Downtown Emergency Response Team ... More >>

Yes, But Is TNT Gonna Shoot Dallas in Dallas?

If you want one of these bumper stickers, why, you just let me know.​Two months ago TNT announced that it was indeed planning on a return to Southfork with the Ewing clan in tow. For now, though, the new Dallas is but a hypothetical -- a pilot that will more than likely shoot in the spring. Effort ... More >>

Are The Good Guys Gone? Hard to Say.

Courtesy Fox BroadcastingIs this the end of The Good Guys? It's certainly the end of Dan Stark's trailer, which blows up in the December 3 episode "Cop Killers."​Spent some of yesterday trying to get the answer to that question, following a note from a good Friend of Unfair Park with ties to the s ... More >>

NBC Ending Its Chase Earlier Than Expected

Courtesy NBC UniversalCole Hauser and Kelli Giddish on a West End rooftop in last week's episode of Chase​Back in October, NBC made the rather surprising announcement that it was picking up the locally shot Chase for an entire season -- 22 episodes, boom. It was surprising given that ratings for t ... More >>

It's Official: The Good Guys Are Gone For Good

Courtesy FOX BroadcastingBradley Whitford's days taking a free spin on the Fair Park merry-go-round have come to an end.​Janis Burklund, head of the Dallas Film Commission, just called with disappointing but not entirely surprising news: The Good Guys will not return for a second season. Which mea ... More >>

Terrence Malick Shot Tree of Life All Over Texas. Including, Turns Out, in Downtown Dallas.

The view of the Chapel of Thanksgiving that appears, briefly, in the new Tree of Life trailer​Last night, in the comments of the Good Guys-are-gone item, Friend of Unfair Park "Urban Observer" observed: At the 1:39-minute mark of the just-released trailer for writer-director Terrence Malick's looo ... More >>

Late Bloomer: At Long Last, Director Julia Dyer Is Making Sister's Screenplay, Set in 1975 Dallas

​I just had the pleasure of re-reading Jimmy Fowler's 1997 feature on Gretchen and Julia Dyer, who, long, long ago, took their movie Late Bloomers to Sundance, where it garnered raves and, finally, national distribution. I was reminded of it after reading a piece in Variety about The Playroom, whi ... More >>

In TV Series News: Dallas Is Coming to Look at Dallas. And: ABC Gives Bitches an Order.

Patrick MichelsLarry Hagman, Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray at Southfork Ranch at the Dallas reunion in November '08​The teevee networks, major and minor and cable and otherwise, are starting to slow-roll-out their next-season pilots. And two, very specifically, affect Dallas -- which would love to ... More >>

NBC Gives Up Its Chase

Courtesy NBC/UniversalCole Hauser and Kelli Giddish's days of chasing fugitives on downtown rooftops has come to a premature end.​Been meaning to get to this all day; alas, it got buried in the snow, along with everything else. But: Shoulda seen this coming. NBC has yanked the locally shot Chase f ... More >>

Next Month, Dallas Returns to Dallas As TNT Decides to Shoot Pilot Here After All

Looks like those old bumper stickers the city made finally did the trick.​We've been waiting since at least September to see whether TNT and Warner Horizon Television would be shooting that Dallas pilot here -- ya know, in Dallas? Larry Hagman, who will be among The Holy Trinity of original cast m ... More >>

You Can Work on Good Christian Bitches, Dallas or "Untitled Reality Series." Dunno.

Some of the locals who worked behind the scenes on NBC's Chase before it was chased off the schedule​Yesterday, a Friend of Unfair Park wondered if there were any gigs available on Good Christian Bitches (which is now set to feature this JAG) or Dallas's pilots, both of which are set to start shoo ... More >>

Coming in July to the Style Network, Another Reality Show About Dallas's "Social Scene"

For those who missed Dallas Divas & Daughters, you're so in luck ...​Two weeks ago, Bravo announced that among its new slate of shows is one titled Most Eligible: Dallas, which promises a peek at the dating lives of Dallas's beautiful people ... or something. You let me know how that works out ... More >>

In Front of Dallas City Hall, Grabbing a Bite on The Living Plaza. "And It Only Took 30 Years."

Council member Jerry Allen tosses a Frisbee to Trinity Trust President Gail Thomas on the City Hall Plaza today at noon.​I'd intended to spend, oh, maybe half an hour in front of Dallas City Hall today, where, decades after William H. Whyte first proposed the idea of making that expanse of concret ... More >>

It's Looking Good For Good Christian Bitches As a Fall ABC Series. But Will It Shoot Here?

​ABC won't announce which pilots it's turning into full-blown series till May 17. But late last night, Deadline's Nellie Andreeva wrote that it's all but certain that exec producer Darren Star's adaptation of Kim Gatlin's book Good Christian Bitches -- set, of course, beneath The Bubble -- is a go ... More >>

Yes They Cannes: Producers, Agents Shopping Dallas Buyer's Club 'Round France

Photo by Patrick Michels​After 10 long years of maybes, doubtfuls and dunnos, it would appear that The Dallas Buyer's Club, the true-life tale of Ron Woodroof, is closer to becoming a big-screen reality: Relativity Media today issued a press release announcing that co-producer Robbie Brenner is sh ... More >>

The Studios at Las Colinas Not Reel Happy With Dallas's Efforts to Build Studio in Cedars

Via.Rick Perry and Justin Muller at The Studios at Las Colinas​On Friday we spoke with Janis Burklund, head of the Dallas Film Commission, about why the city council will on Wednesday more than likely approve a $235,000 economic development grant for a film and television production studio in a S. ... More >>

City Hall Says: Well, Of Course TNT's Next-Generation Dallas Is Shooting in Dallas

The next-gen Ewings live downtown, which is why they needed that studio in the Cedars.​Unlike, say, the release below, the one that just landed in the Unfair Park in-box is far less surprising: TNT will indeed shoot Dallas in Dallas. Specifically, the Warner Horizon-produced series, which was form ... More >>

Yes, Top Chef is Shooting in Dallas; No, the City Didn't "Pay to Play"

​News broke a couple weeks back that Bravo's Top Chef, the king of reality food TV's very crowded hill, is busy shooting its next season in cities around Texas, including Dallas. And last week, things seemed to take a turn for the sinister, when Eater reported that a Dallas-based advertising c ... More >>

Top Chef To Cost Texas Taxpayers $400,000, Give Or Take the Bacon Budget

"Mmm. Taxpayer-funded chocolate is delicious."​For several weeks now, as Top Chef crews have bounced around the state shooting next season's Texas-centric version of the popular Bravo reality show, journalists and food bloggers have wondered: How much, if anything, did the state pay for the sh ... More >>

Because There Isn't Enough Reality TV Starring Dallas, More and More Opportunities Await

​To the pile of reality series making camp in Dallas (Most Eligible Dallas , The A-List: Dallas, Storage Wars: Dallas featuring Roy Williams and on and on), add at least two more: HGTV's My First Place and Lifetime's America's Supernanny. Sooner or later, you will wind up in front of a camera. Whe ... More >>

Big Hair. Big Boots. Big D. This is Reality?

Dallas is hot, hot, hot on reality television. Or at least someplace sort of like Dallas.

Reality TV to Hit Dallas City Hall Tomorrow as Khloe Kardashian Holds Toy Drive on Plaza

Via.​You wanna talk about a living Dallas City Hall Plaza, dig this: Several Friends of Unfair Park have dispatched this item from the blog of one Khloe Kardashian, now a Dallas resident courtesy her husband's trade to the Mavericks. And, yes, city officials confirm: Kardashian will indeed be hold ... More >>