At least 60% of production days must occur within 60 miles of Houston City Hall (901 Bagby, 77002) and/or the following counties: Harris, Montgomery, Fort Bend, Brazoria, Galveston, Liberty, Waller, Chambers, San Jacinto, or Austin.

At least 55% of paid crew and cast must be Texas residents and 15% of paid crew and cast should be Houston area residents.

The project’s principal production office must be located within City of Houston limits.

The project’s primary hotel accommodation must be within City of Houston limits.

Promote the City of Houston by including the Houston Film Commission logo in the production’s end credits, Houston as a location on the project’s Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
listing, and Houston Film Commission listed on the project’s Internet Movie Database (IMDb) in the “Thanks” or “Special Thanks” categories.

Production must provide Houston Film Commission with project Electronic Press Kit (EPK) once available.

A project must have its production budget secured before applying for the HFFIP rebate and provide proof of funding. The HFFIP expected rebate must not form part of an applicant’s production budget.

Projects including the following programming are not eligible for consideration: award shows/galas; commercials/advertising; education/instructional videos; fundraising/programming soliciting donations; news/current events or public access programming; political advocacy; pornography/obscene material; reality/unscripted programming; or sporting events/activities.

Pre-production expenditures, including all affiliated costs with pre-production location scouting and pre-production meetings, are not eligible expenditures.

To apply for the HFFIP, productions must send the following items no earlier than 120 days prior to the first day of principal photography and no later than the midpoint of principal photography to (acervantes@houstonfilmcommission.com) and
(mmonroy@houstonfilmcommission.com) with the subject line: HFFIP Application: [Project Name] 

1. Submit a completed HFFIP application along with all documents
requested within the application.  

2. The most current version of the project’s budget, with final sign-off budget submitted by no later than the midpoint principal photography.  

3. Proof of funding for production.

If a project applies for and receives funding from the TMIIP, the acceptance letter from the Texas Film Commission reflecting the final approved amount to be disbursed by the state’s comptroller’s office must be included in the application submission. This must be received by the Houston Film Commission no later than the midpoint of principal photography.