San Antonio has simply snapped up new recognition because the No. 14 greatest place to stay and work as a filmmaker in North America, in keeping with MovieMaker Journal’s annual report, “The Greatest Locations to Reside and Work as a Moviemaker in 2026.”
The Alamo Metropolis has made enhancements after rating twentieth within the journal’s 2025 listing.
The annual listing ranks the very best cities within the U.S. and Canada for people to stay whereas working within the movie business, based mostly on manufacturing spending, tax incentives, value of dwelling, the prevalence of “native movie scenes,” and extra components. The listing is split into two classes: 25 huge cities and 10 smaller cities or cities.
The spotlighted cities are the locations the place the publication believes filmmakers “have the very best probability of each succeeding within the famously tough leisure business, and making [their] personal artwork.”
San Antonio filmmakers primarily profit from the Texas Shifting Picture Trade Incentive Program, which elevated its manufacturing grant rebate from 22.5 % to as much as 31 % for certified in-state spending. Locals may also reap the benefits of the not too long ago elevated San Antonio Movie Incentive program (SAFI) that provides rebates of as much as 14 % based mostly on eligible prices. The report says San Antonio has a number of the greatest movie incentives in North America.
“With expanded eligibility and new workforce improvement alternatives, we’re empowering native artists, crew members, and rising expertise — together with college students — to participate in and profit from the exceptional progress of our movie business proper right here in San Antonio,” stated San Antonio’s Division of Arts & Tradition government director Krystal Jones in an earlier press launch.
MovieMaker additionally highlighted San Antonio’s range, its low value of dwelling in comparison with the nationwide common, its “photogenic landscapes,” and its proximity to Austin.
“The variety of crew and vendor listings is up dramatically this decade, and it has some places that may stand in for a variety of different instances and locations, and others, just like the River Stroll and the Alamo, which are wholly distinctive,” the report stated.
Elsewhere in Texas, Austin ranked because the No. 5 greatest place to stay and work as a filmmaker in North America. Dallas ranked seventh, whereas neighboring Fort Value ranked twelfth. Houston appeared as No. 10, and El Paso landed twenty fifth on the listing.
