The Dallas Film Commission registered 277 productions in 2025, a 74.2% jump from the year before, according to a presentation scheduled for the City Council's Quality of Life, Arts, and Culture Committee on Monday, Oct. 19.
The slides, listed under Film Commissioner Katie Schuck, put the direct economic impact of filming in the city at $133,499,038 for fiscal 2025 and say verified production spending has grown 1,230% since 2022. The same slide carries two qualifiers: production budgets are self-reported when projects register with the commission, and $124 million of the total was confirmed through City of Dallas film permit requests.
The year in numbers
- 625 days of principal photography logged by tracked productions
- 3,747 crew positions filled with Dallas-area hires, up 84.76% from the prior year
- 31,552 overnight stays reported by production travel coordinators, across hotels, short-term rentals and extended-stay properties
What the office does
The presentation describes the commission as the first stop for film and television productions in the region and a go-between for film companies, permitting offices and the community. Staff market the city at trade shows and festivals, offer location packages and scouting, keep a database of sites open to filming and run training such as a production assistant course.
The commission does not manage the properties in that database, the slides note; dates and rates are worked out between productions and owners. City-owned properties are pitched as locations too.
The office lists three priorities. Workforce means entry-level training and routes into trade and labor unions. Infrastructure covers soundstages, with South Side Studios named, and production vendors. Incentives refers to the state's Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program and the FRAME Foundation.
