Today we’d like to introduce you to Taylor Hardy
Hi Taylor, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
After my first visit to Fort Worth in 2012, I knew this city was special. I fell in love with the friendly residents and western heritage and decided to move from Las Vegas to Fort Worth to attend TCU.
I choose to pursue a degree in Strategic Communications, but quickly added Film, TV, and Digital Media as a double major. With my background in dance and theater, the art of storytelling became very appealing, and I enjoyed learning about the business behind film productions and variety of career paths in the industry.
My studies led me to a wide range of internships, working with companies like Red Productions, Betty Mae Casting in Los Angeles, RIDE TV, and TCU’s in-house agency, ROXO. Towards the end of my senior year, I met with Red Sanders who told me about the recent launch of the Fort Worth Film Commission and introduced me to Jessica Hill, the first Film Commissioner for our city.
At that time, Fort Worth was the only major city in Texas without a Film Commission so there was a big opportunity to make a difference in our community. I began working with Jessica as an intern while I finished my final months of school and then eventually was hired full-time.
I really enjoyed the challenge of building something from scratch, and helped to create our library of film-friendly locations, production directory, social media accounts and more. Over the past nine years, I’ve had the privilege of learning and growing at Visit Fort Worth and now serve as the Film Commissioner for Fort Worth.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Fort Worth is a unique city with a variety of interesting filming locations, low cost-of-living, a simple permitting process and most importantly, a supportive and collaborative community. This makes it a great choice for filmmakers!
However, there were challenges as we grew to become the film destination we are today:
-We worked to showcase the impact of film in our community and met with elected officials to advocate for a strong state incentive program. Today, we have seen film drive over $700 million in economic impact in Fort Worth and the TMIIIP program is funded at it’s highest level ever.
-We focused on customer service to move from attracting smaller commercial projects or films with a single scene filmed in Fort Worth to having entire TV series and feature films based in the city. This has included working with storytellers like David Lowery and Taylor Sheridan who have chosen to return to Fort Worth after having a great experience filming here.
-We launched the Fort Worth Film Collaborative workforce development program in partnership with TCC and 101 Studios to help address the growing need for more trained crew members.
-We’ve also seen an increase in infrastructure like studio spaces and production offices and film-specific vendors. This allows us to accommodate more production than we could in the early days of the Film Commission and also helps to put us on the map. For example, businesses like Dr. Phil’s Merit Street Media, Trilogy Studios (the largest volume stage in Texas), and the Cinelease rental house have chosen to operate out of Fort Worth.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
The Fort Worth Film Commission is a non-profit organization that works to promote Fort Worth as a film destination and help to make filming in the city an easy process. The Film Commission can assist filmmakers with permits, finding locations, connecting with local crew, securing group production rates at local hotels and more.
The Fort Worth Film Commission has the largest Instagram following of any US-based film office. We love to spotlight local creatives or projects filming in the city in a way that many other Film Commissions do not. We also frequently share cast and crew calls, inviting our audience to participate in the filmmaking process, or post about local industry meet-ups and events to encourage connection.
Our office also benefits from being a branch of Visit Fort Worth. This allows us to work with filmmakers to tell the story of our city. For example, Visit Fort Worth recently partnered with 19 local filmmakers to create the “Unexpected Stories” video series.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
As a kid, I loved all things creative and had a strong passion for the performing arts. I performed the Nutcracker with my dance studio and joined the dance team in middle school. In high school, I was introduced to the world of theater and gained a new appreciation for storytelling, performing in musicals and serving as the dance captain for our dance drama show.
Pricing:
- There is no cost to work with us! We strive to help all filmmakers and creatives regardless of budget.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://FilmFortWorth.com
- Instagram: @filmfortworth
