[Music]
[Applause]
does anybody remember the children’s
book Texas tall tales or the adventures
of Pecos Bill good now putting this talk
together I couldn’t help but feel like I
was about to tell one such story but
rest assured everything I’m about to say
is true and it happened right here in
San Antonio would you believe me if I
told you that I wouldn’t be here today
telling this history if it was for the
cost of shoe leather in France would you
also believe that this history traces
back to one of the original filmmaking
pioneers now would you also believe that
one of the early feature films that was
produced in San Antonio set the bar for
how studio blockbuster films were to be
made and would you also know that there
currently exists an independent movement
that’s making strides towards mainstream
notoriety but more on that later
does anybody remember the name George
melea’s if the name doesn’t ring a bell
you might recognize this image from his
1902 film a trip to the moon George came
from a family of prominent shoemakers
the family had acquired a contract with
the French military to produce all their
Footwear but when the price of shoe
leather went up the family was barely
able to complete their contract and were
left all but financially ruined but not
to worry George had already acquired
some renown as a filmmaker and thanks to
rampant pirating in the United States
George sent his brother Gaston stateside
to protect his copyrights a condition of
that copyright was that he had to
produce a film a week in order to ensure
that kind of year-round production
Gaston said his sight on sunnier
climates Gaston set his sights on San
Antonio in particular a 20 acre tract of
land adjacent to the hot Welles Hotel on
the city’s south side which was a
world-renowned resort of its day between
1910 and 1911 the star film ranch
produced over 81 reelers those films
were about 15 minutes in length and most
of them were westerns but one film that
stood out above the rest
called the immortal Alamo unfortunately
do the volatile nature of film in those
days and when I say volatile
I mean chemically volatile like they
would spontaneously combust and no one
thought to make copies a lot of those
films didn’t survive but thanks to the
work of film preservationist around the
world we were able to enjoy a handful of
these films digitally George
unfortunately moved out of the ranch at
the end of his lease and sought other
exotic locations to ensure his sunny
climate and continued to do so until the
company folded in 1913 but that didn’t
stop filmmakers from setting up shop all
up and down presses Street for one
reason to fill the screens of all the
theaters that lined the streets of San
Antonio theaters like the one we’re in
right now and theaters just right
outside these doors it wasn’t until the
mid 20s that major Hollywood studios set
their sights on San Antonio
the story of Teddy Roosevelt and the
Rough Riders is one that’s been told on
screen several times due to its and due
to its local connection finds itself
being produced here paramount in 1926
sought to tell a historically accurate
tale of this night 1898 campaign into
Cuba everything was meticulously
recreated from record and shot on
location here in San Antonio except for
the scenes in Cuba those were shot in
capitalists just right up the road on a
hundred acre tract of land dressed up to
look like the island nation paramount
was having such a great experience
working with the military here in San
Antonio that they doubled down and
brought a second film to town that year
a more contemporary tale of American
heroics
with a former World War one flyboy
directing the epic of the air called
wings the film already posted a
record-setting two million dollar budget
and also received military contributions
up to about 16 million dollars you
convert that to today’s dollars and
you’re looking at about a two hundred
and eighty five million dollar budget
now think about that think about how
many pictures in the last five years
have gotten close
or surpass that budget the film was so
groundbreaking that it won the first
Academy Award for Best Picture it was
the only silent film to ever win the
award
it was the only film to be shot in San
Antonio our city’s next brush with
cinematic greatness came in the 1960s
for the premiere of John Wayne’s epic
the Alamo while the film was not shot on
location for obvious reasons the Duke
thought it was only right to bring the
premiere to where the events took place
now this premiere brought its own set of
technological challenges due to the
large format nature of the film it would
require a major investment from whatever
theater was going to host this premiere
thankfully the woodland theater stepped
up to the plate and committed fifty
thousand dollars into into a retrofit
for for a screen and a projector that
could screen a 70 millimeter film now we
know we like to do things big in Texas
here so this premiere was no exception a
simple red carpet premiere turned into a
week-long celebration full of pomp and
circumstance and celebrations at the end
of October in 1960 an event that we
still talk about to this day the 70s
brought a change in attitude gritty
realism drove audiences into theaters
and Sam Peckinpah was one of the rawest
filmmakers of this new era paired with
the king of cool and America’s
Sweetheart you had the recipe for
something magical I always feel a sense
of pride when I watch the getaway seeing
Steve McQueen ride a river barge on our
very own River Walk or him and out
watching him and Ali MacGraw plot their
escape and what we now call Sunset
Station and my favorite little local
trivia Steve McQueen reading a copy of
the San Antonio Light now being a child
of the 80s I watched a lot of local TV
I’m sure most of you have especially the
weekend matinees one of my favorite
films that I watched over and over and
over again at that time was called
cloak-and-dagger it took me a few
viewings to realize that this story took
place in San Antonio but as you can see
a lot of local landmarks were
prominently featured chase scenes on the
Riverwalk the tower life building an old
school via bus
where a lot of the treats visual treats
that this movie offers but the real
cherry on top is the film’s young star
Henry Thomas he was a local San Antonio
boy but you might recognize him from
some of his earlier work Johnny be good
was one of my favorite movies growing up
because of its exciting football
sequences and the co-star was kind of
funny some of those football sequences
and some of the school sequences you’re
shot and some local high schools now I’d
be doing this talk a major disservice if
I didn’t mention the Alamos mythic
reappearance on screen again and Tim
Burton’s film pee-wee’s big adventure
even if it was just to say that there
was no basement in the Alamo San Antonio
would finish out the century putting its
diverse landscapes on display in major
studio productions like standing in for
an African village an Ace Ventura 2 or
being put center stage in the telling of
the life story of a young Tejano singer
whose life was cut too short of course
I’m talking about the Selena movie and
that’s the theater next door by the way
or telling the story of an FBI
investigation with the backdrop of a
beauty pageant like it did for Miss
Congeniality San Antonio’s star shone
brightly for the world to see now in the
new millennium big major studio
productions have dropped off but that’s
not to say film production has stopped
altogether in the last decade or so
there’s been an uptick in independent
film production and I tribute did this
attribute this to two reasons first is
technology it’s advanced so much that
film equipment has been is more
accessible for these modern-day
storytellers and to the evolution of
distribution and particular the rise of
streaming services have put more San
Antonio filmmakers in screens around the
world the highlight of this raffle
revolution occurred in 2012 for the
production of a film called Mission Park
a local investor and local filmmaker
made a commitment
a multi-million dollar commitment to
completely produce a film in San Antonio
the film went on to enjoy a theatrical
run in major markets across the city or
across the country and acquired a
distribution deal through Lionsgate now
think about this with me for a second if
one investor was willing to put their
money on Mission Park imagine if we came
together as a community and supported
these modern days storytellers imagine
how much brighter
San Antonio star will shine in the eyes
of the world imagine the stories we’d be
able to tell a global audience imagine
the story we’d be telling 100 years from
now
imagine all the Oscars we can win in
that time thank you [Applause]
[Applause]
does anybody remember the children’s
book Texas tall tales or the adventures
of Pecos Bill good now putting this talk
together I couldn’t help but feel like I
was about to tell one such story but
rest assured everything I’m about to say
is true and it happened right here in
San Antonio would you believe me if I
told you that I wouldn’t be here today
telling this history if it was for the
cost of shoe leather in France would you
also believe that this history traces
back to one of the original filmmaking
pioneers now would you also believe that
one of the early feature films that was
produced in San Antonio set the bar for
how studio blockbuster films were to be
made and would you also know that there
currently exists an independent movement
that’s making strides towards mainstream
notoriety but more on that later
does anybody remember the name George
melea’s if the name doesn’t ring a bell
you might recognize this image from his
1902 film a trip to the moon George came
from a family of prominent shoemakers
the family had acquired a contract with
the French military to produce all their
Footwear but when the price of shoe
leather went up the family was barely
able to complete their contract and were
left all but financially ruined but not
to worry George had already acquired
some renown as a filmmaker and thanks to
rampant pirating in the United States
George sent his brother Gaston stateside
to protect his copyrights a condition of
that copyright was that he had to
produce a film a week in order to ensure
that kind of year-round production
Gaston said his sight on sunnier
climates Gaston set his sights on San
Antonio in particular a 20 acre tract of
land adjacent to the hot Welles Hotel on
the city’s south side which was a
world-renowned resort of its day between
1910 and 1911 the star film ranch
produced over 81 reelers those films
were about 15 minutes in length and most
of them were westerns but one film that
stood out above the rest
called the immortal Alamo unfortunately
do the volatile nature of film in those
days and when I say volatile
I mean chemically volatile like they
would spontaneously combust and no one
thought to make copies a lot of those
films didn’t survive but thanks to the
work of film preservationist around the
world we were able to enjoy a handful of
these films digitally George
unfortunately moved out of the ranch at
the end of his lease and sought other
exotic locations to ensure his sunny
climate and continued to do so until the
company folded in 1913 but that didn’t
stop filmmakers from setting up shop all
up and down presses Street for one
reason to fill the screens of all the
theaters that lined the streets of San
Antonio theaters like the one we’re in
right now and theaters just right
outside these doors it wasn’t until the
mid 20s that major Hollywood studios set
their sights on San Antonio
the story of Teddy Roosevelt and the
Rough Riders is one that’s been told on
screen several times due to its and due
to its local connection finds itself
being produced here paramount in 1926
sought to tell a historically accurate
tale of this night 1898 campaign into
Cuba everything was meticulously
recreated from record and shot on
location here in San Antonio except for
the scenes in Cuba those were shot in
capitalists just right up the road on a
hundred acre tract of land dressed up to
look like the island nation paramount
was having such a great experience
working with the military here in San
Antonio that they doubled down and
brought a second film to town that year
a more contemporary tale of American
heroics
with a former World War one flyboy
directing the epic of the air called
wings the film already posted a
record-setting two million dollar budget
and also received military contributions
up to about 16 million dollars you
convert that to today’s dollars and
you’re looking at about a two hundred
and eighty five million dollar budget
now think about that think about how
many pictures in the last five years
have gotten close
or surpass that budget the film was so
groundbreaking that it won the first
Academy Award for Best Picture it was
the only silent film to ever win the
award
it was the only film to be shot in San
Antonio our city’s next brush with
cinematic greatness came in the 1960s
for the premiere of John Wayne’s epic
the Alamo while the film was not shot on
location for obvious reasons the Duke
thought it was only right to bring the
premiere to where the events took place
now this premiere brought its own set of
technological challenges due to the
large format nature of the film it would
require a major investment from whatever
theater was going to host this premiere
thankfully the woodland theater stepped
up to the plate and committed fifty
thousand dollars into into a retrofit
for for a screen and a projector that
could screen a 70 millimeter film now we
know we like to do things big in Texas
here so this premiere was no exception a
simple red carpet premiere turned into a
week-long celebration full of pomp and
circumstance and celebrations at the end
of October in 1960 an event that we
still talk about to this day the 70s
brought a change in attitude gritty
realism drove audiences into theaters
and Sam Peckinpah was one of the rawest
filmmakers of this new era paired with
the king of cool and America’s
Sweetheart you had the recipe for
something magical I always feel a sense
of pride when I watch the getaway seeing
Steve McQueen ride a river barge on our
very own River Walk or him and out
watching him and Ali MacGraw plot their
escape and what we now call Sunset
Station and my favorite little local
trivia Steve McQueen reading a copy of
the San Antonio Light now being a child
of the 80s I watched a lot of local TV
I’m sure most of you have especially the
weekend matinees one of my favorite
films that I watched over and over and
over again at that time was called
cloak-and-dagger it took me a few
viewings to realize that this story took
place in San Antonio but as you can see
a lot of local landmarks were
prominently featured chase scenes on the
Riverwalk the tower life building an old
school via bus
where a lot of the treats visual treats
that this movie offers but the real
cherry on top is the film’s young star
Henry Thomas he was a local San Antonio
boy but you might recognize him from
some of his earlier work Johnny be good
was one of my favorite movies growing up
because of its exciting football
sequences and the co-star was kind of
funny some of those football sequences
and some of the school sequences you’re
shot and some local high schools now I’d
be doing this talk a major disservice if
I didn’t mention the Alamos mythic
reappearance on screen again and Tim
Burton’s film pee-wee’s big adventure
even if it was just to say that there
was no basement in the Alamo San Antonio
would finish out the century putting its
diverse landscapes on display in major
studio productions like standing in for
an African village an Ace Ventura 2 or
being put center stage in the telling of
the life story of a young Tejano singer
whose life was cut too short of course
I’m talking about the Selena movie and
that’s the theater next door by the way
or telling the story of an FBI
investigation with the backdrop of a
beauty pageant like it did for Miss
Congeniality San Antonio’s star shone
brightly for the world to see now in the
new millennium big major studio
productions have dropped off but that’s
not to say film production has stopped
altogether in the last decade or so
there’s been an uptick in independent
film production and I tribute did this
attribute this to two reasons first is
technology it’s advanced so much that
film equipment has been is more
accessible for these modern-day
storytellers and to the evolution of
distribution and particular the rise of
streaming services have put more San
Antonio filmmakers in screens around the
world the highlight of this raffle
revolution occurred in 2012 for the
production of a film called Mission Park
a local investor and local filmmaker
made a commitment
a multi-million dollar commitment to
completely produce a film in San Antonio
the film went on to enjoy a theatrical
run in major markets across the city or
across the country and acquired a
distribution deal through Lionsgate now
think about this with me for a second if
one investor was willing to put their
money on Mission Park imagine if we came
together as a community and supported
these modern days storytellers imagine
how much brighter
San Antonio star will shine in the eyes
of the world imagine the stories we’d be
able to tell a global audience imagine
the story we’d be telling 100 years from
now
imagine all the Oscars we can win in
that time thank you [Applause]
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