also couldn’t believe how much cheaper
it was to live in Texas. Actually, it was
cheaper to do almost anything here,
including starting a business, which is
what I did in 2007, establishing a film-
production company in Dallas in
order to pursue my dream of making
movies. The fact that I started a career
as a film producer after leaving Los
Angeles says a lot about how much more
attractive Texas is than California for young
entrepreneurs.
I found that out the hard way when it came time
for me to start making my first film. Bowing to con-
ventional wisdom, I decided to shoot most of it back in
L.A., figuring that’s where so much of the skilled talent
in the industry was concentrated. I quickly learned,
though, that L.A. is a terrible place to shoot a movie. It
is a nightmare of endless paperwork, unscrupulous
contractors, and property owners trying to milk extra
dollars out of their burdensomely expensive real
estate. A common exchange would go like this:
“Hello, I would like to rent your parking lot for a
week.”
“Sure, it’s $100 a day. What do you need it for?”
“I’m making a movie.”
“Oh, in that case it’s $200 a day.”
Months after we finished principal filming, I
returned with my crew to Texas to shoot some pickup
scenes. I was shocked at how much easier it was.
Above: Andrew Wyly poses for David Wright’s painting The
Alamo in Dripping Springs, Texas. Opposite: The not-in-my-
backyarders in other states fight against expanding offshore
drilling, but that attitude doesn’t fly in Texas.
TEXAS GOT IT RIGHT!
10
Obtaining licenses was a comparative breeze, and the
costs for everything, from equipment rentals to
meals, were much lower. People were just friendlier.
A hotel even let us shoot on its rooftop for free.
What is it that makes Texas so special; what
makes it such fertile ground for entrepreneurs? An
argument could be made that we have a lot of land
and that we are mineral-rich. But Alaska is even
bigger, geographically, with a wealth of minerals,
and it is not growing like Texas. The fact is, a big
part of what makes Texas great is not what it has but
what it doesn’t have. Namely, it doesn’t have a
bloated government bureaucracy with a vast regula-
tory system that impedes the launching and growth
of businesses. Our state constitution limits state leg-
islative sessions to 140 days every other year,
making for highly efficient, streamlined lawmaking.
And yet the government we do have protects indi-
vidual rights and private property fiercely. Texans
have always taken justice very seriously, and we
have some of the toughest penalties for lawbreakers
in the country. We also have the Texas Rangers, one
of the most illustrious law-enforcement units in
the world.
Actually, one of the only apprehensions I did have
about moving to Texas was that I’d be miles away from
my favorite burger joint, In-N-Out Burger, a Califor-
nia-based, family-owned chain that prides itself on its
ultrafresh, high-quality ingredients. For years the com-
pany has resisted expanding beyond the reach of its
California-based meat-processing facility, meaning that
if you wanted an In-N-Out burger, you would have to
live in either California or a nearby state such as
Nevada, Arizona, or Utah. But in 2010, to my delight,
In-N-Out announced that it was restructuring its
system and opening a second processing facility just
south of Dallas. It’s no coincidence that In-N-Out
chose the Lone Star State for the company’s first-ever
expansion outside its home region. It selected Texas
for the same reasons that Chief Executive magazine has
rated our state the number-one place to do business in
the country (and California the worst) eight years and
running. When it comes to being business-friendly,
Texas puts its money where its mouth is.
TEXAS GOT IT RIGHT!
11
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