State Film Commission gives Graham special recognition

Texas Film Commission Director Heather Page presented an award to the city of Graham for being the 100th Film Friendly Certified City in Texas on Wednesday in the Graham Visitor and Business Center. The reception was hosted by the Graham Convention and Visitors Bureau and city councilmen and dignitaries from the community came to join in on the event. The Film Friendly Certification program was started in 2007 and since that time has provided training and guidance to help Texas communities market themselves as possible film destinations and accommodate filming in these communities. “(Film friendly) broadens our vision of what Texas is and our ability to recruit,” Page said. “With participation in this program, now you have joined this incredible network of other towns that we are able to have just that much more communication with.” Ann Street Skipper approached the city of Graham around three months ago to work up guidelines for filming in Graham and promoting the city as a filming location in order to provide long-term benefits for the community. After getting the documents passed and approved by city council, the Texas Film Commission approved the guidelines and began marketing Graham through their website, http://gov.texas.gov/film. The Texas Film Commission is an office of the Texas governor and one part of its mission is to provide incentives for movie companies to help create jobs by hiring local professionals. Film, television, commercials, video game, visual effects and reality TV projects also have the possibility of receiving cash grants based on a percentage of a project’s eligible Texas expenditures and including eligible wages paid to Texas residents. For the rest of this story, pick up a copy of Saturday's Graham Leader, or subscribe to our online edition.