Matthew McConaughey is one of the biggest stars in Hollywood.
He has more ambitions than just acting.
And Matthew McConaughey declared war on Hollywood with one major announcement.
Matthew McConaughey pitches Texas as the next Hollywood
Hollywood has been the center of the entertainment industry for more than a century.
However, Los Angeles has seen TV and movie production shift to other states and countries because of the rising cost of doing business in California and the regulations.
Actor Matthew McConaughey ditched Hollywood in 2014 to move back to his home state of Texas.
Now he’s trying to get the rest of Hollywood to join him in the Lone State.
McConaughey and Woody Harrelson reprised their roles from the HBO series True Detective to pitch Texas’ film industry.
Texas stories deserve a Texas backdrop. That’s why I teamed up with Dennis Quaid, Woody Harrelson, Billy Bob Thornton, and Renée Zellweger for True to Texas. It’s time to bring film and TV productions home! pic.twitter.com/iMpRMRx2Hj
— Matthew McConaughey (@McConaughey) January 29, 2025
They were joined by Dennis Quaid, Billy Bob Thornton, and Renee Zellweger in the video.
“Hollywood is a flat circle, Wood,” McConaughey said as his character Rust Cohle. “Round and round, like a record with the sound off. I want to change the tune. This industry is like somebody’s memory of an industry. And the memory’s fading.”
“I’m talking about a whole new hub for film and television,” McConaughey added. “A renaissance. A rebirth.”
“A small fraction of Texas’ budget surplus could turn this state into the new Hollywood,” Harrelson said.
Hollywood actors want Texas taxpayers to lure movies to the state
The actors began to try to sell using taxpayer money as an incentive to bring TV and movie production to Texas.
Zellweger said that production companies would go to whatever state offered them incentives.
“Why should all these other states take advantage of this investment, but not Texas? Ain’t all that money like corporate welfare for big Hollywood studios?” Harrelson asked.
Harrelson identified exactly what taxpayer-funded incentives for TV and movie productions are but McConaughey used fuzzy math to sell it.
“No, Wood, it’s not,” McConaughey replied. “Real Texas business owners and citizens see every dollar spent from this incentive put $4 back into the state of Texas.”
“It’s time for Texas to become the home for telling stories that people want to see and hear,” McConaughey added. “So, what do you say, Texas legislature? You don’t like what Hollywood’s been dishing, let’s take it up with the kitchen.”
Texas lawmakers are considering a state budget that would dole out $498 million to the Texas Film Incentive program to attract more TV and movie productions.
Taxpayer-funded incentives for TV and movies are sold as a way to create jobs and bring businesses to the state.
Few if any of the jobs are permanent and taxpayers get taken for a ride by starstruck RINOs.
Texas State Representative Brian Harrison (R-TX) argued that Texans should get a tax cut before Hollywood got a handout.
“ANTI-DOGE ALERT: The Texas government is proposing to have your property taxes be $500 MILLION higher… so they can give it to liberal Hollywood! I will oppose the liberal ‘Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive.’ Texans are overtaxed, and Hollywood doesn’t need your money!” Harrison wrote on X.
Relocating left-wing Hollywood to Texas is a bad idea for the state and a raw deal for taxpayers.
