Entertainment

Indie or Hollywood? The answer is both.

The question? Which is more important to the North Texas film industry: attracting big-budget Hollywood productions or nurturing a homegrown independent film scene?

My last column led to a lively discussion of that issue on the Dallas Producers Association Listserv, and the consensus seems to be that the former likely helps the latter by providing jobs and stability to the local industry. The question is whether the new $20 million statewide film incentives program means anything to the little guy working in the trenches.

"We try to float all the boats higher," says Janis Burklund of the Dallas Film Commission, which is seeing an increase in inquiries from Hollywood, particularly with the threat of both actors' and writers' strikes looming. Strike talk usually leads to a short-term increase in filming while studios look to sock away films for a potentially rainy day. Such a flurry predictably tends to be followed by a lull.

Forget the millions; thousands are often enough to launch local independents, including films that can make a major mark on the national film scene. Think of the Dallas-produced documentary TV Junkie, which premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. Its message about addiction has reverberated around the country.

Or consider David Lowery, the only filmmaker from North Texas to receive a grant this year from the Texas Filmmakers Production Fund, which gave $150,000 to 21 makers of small but potentially important Texas films. Mr. Lowery got $6,000 – the largest award was $20,000 – enough for him to plan a November start in Fort Worth for his 90-minute high-definition narrative St. Nick, about a brother and sister who run away from home and hide in the woods. It will be heavily outlined but not scripted, with much of the story made up as production goes along. That's the game plan Mr. Lowery has used with his previous short films, including one that got a TFPF grant in 2005. Expect the result to be a tender, nuanced story much different than the regular megaplex fare.

Add into the mix Blood on the Highway, Barak Epstein's comedic vampire story now shooting on a shoestring budget in Dallas and featuring Nicholas Brendon of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame.

On the more serious side there's His Name Is Bob, a doc following the most famously quirky guy to wander East Dallas. Sebastian Lee, Heather Lee and Lisa Johnson have been filming Robert Crawford since 2003. "People describe Bob as a stinky little troll; a hideous visage; in the way; a tax we have to pay; repulsive; filthy; and subject to raging outbursts," says the film's Web site. Much like TV Junkie , the doc aims at the gut of American society with a sucker punch of truth. They're currently editing 60 hours of footage.

OK, these films won't be seen by as large of an audience as Robert Rodriguez's Barbarella remake slated to start shooting in Austin in November, with Kate Beckinsale or Rose McGowan rumored to star. But these smaller films could spark imaginations and perhaps inspire one more North Texan to get creative.

Bonus footage: TMZ.com says Lionsgate's Tulia, the Texas story set to film in Louisiana in October, may be indefinitely delayed due to star Halle Berry's pregnancy. Stay tuned.