DTX-GCS: Impact 10/16/2025

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Tarrant County College and the Fort Worth Film Commission have teamed up to launch the Fort Worth Film Collaborative, a certification program designed to train the next wave of behind-the-scenes talent.

The program was created in part due to demand for crew members to support the growing number of television shows and movies filmed in North Texas. Buoyed by the success of producer Taylor Sheridan with “Yellowstone,” more productions are being filmed in the Fort Worth area.

The partnership between the film commission and TCC led to the first-ever film collaborative graduation Sept. 2 at TCC’s campus in Hurst. The ceremony had 26 students honored for completing four- or six-month certificate programs.

What’s happening? The program could open doors for jobs such as Sheridan’s new SGS Studios or 48 other Fort Worth-based production companies, according to a news release.

The Fort Worth Film Collaborative offers job training in set construction, grip, electric, post-production and stage operation, which started for the 2024-25 school year at TCC.

Texas Woman’s University joined Carroll ISD’s Distinguished High School Partnership Program, which grants automatic admission for the district's high school graduates that meet certain criteria. CISD trustees unanimously approved the partnership at a Sep. 22 board meeting.

What you need to know: TWU will offer admission to the top 30% of high school graduates and cover all admissions costs, per district documents. TWU will also offer merit scholarships to students in the top 30% with an unweighted GPA of 3.5.

The Good for Texas Tour brought acting Texas Comptroller Kelly Hancock to AllianceTexas on Oct. 13 in Fort Worth.

Hancock, who moved into his new role July 1, provided the comptroller’s office study examining the impact of AllianceTexas on the state’s economy. During his speaking event at Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport, he said the gross domestic product in 2024 was $16.3 billion.

The context: AllianceTexas is one of 32 official ports of entry in Texas, whether airport, land port or seaport, serving domestic and international economic activities, according to a news release.

Zooming in: AllianceTexas is the primary port of entry for the southwestern United States, bringing shipped global goods directly from the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Houston via intermodal rail containers, according to the Comptroller’s office. The top export commodities by value from AllianceTexas in 2024 were:

• Machinery and mechanical appliances: $324.8 million
• Electric machinery and equipment: $276.6 million
• Aircraft and spacecraft equipment: $116 million

The Texas House and Senate are launching new legislative committees to “get to the bottom of exactly what occurred” during this summer’s deadly Central Texas floods, state leaders announced Oct. 13.

The details: The bipartisan panels, known as the House and Senate General Investigating Committees on the July 2025 Flooding Events, will meet jointly to conduct “a comprehensive and thorough review” of the floods, House Speaker Dustin Burrows and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said.

Lawmakers will be tasked with:

• Identifying strategies to strengthen Texas’ disaster preparedness
• Helping communities respond to future floods
• Examining actions taken at summer camps in the flood zone