Austin Awards First Incentive Under Updated Creative Content Incentive Program

AUSTIN, TX – Austin City Council has recently approved the first incentive award under the updated Creative Content Incentive Program (CCIP), a Chapter 380 initiative designed to attract television, film, animation, and gaming productions to Austin.

Apple TV Series Brothers Receives $150,000 Incentive

Hermanos Productions, LLC, the production company behind brothers, the upcoming Apple TV series starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody harrelson, will receive a $150,000 incentive based on wages paid to locally hired cast and crew. This incentive structure directly supports Austin-based creative professionals, small businesses, and the local ecosystem that attracts storytelling.

Program Updates Drive Renewed Interest

Following program updates in Fall 2025, Austin economic Development has seen increased interest from productions and stronger commitments to local hiring. The revised guidelines streamlined the application process, clarified eligibility, modernized reporting requirements, and strengthened incentives tied to local economic impact. Brothers is the first project to benefit from these changes, marking a notable milestone.

Economic impact of Brothers Production

The Brothers production is expected to generate substantial economic benefits for Austin. According to the incentive application, the project plans to spend over $6.2 million on local wages and an additional $9 million on local goods and services. It anticipates employing approximately 320 cast and crew members and collaborating with local vendors, including minority-owned (MBE) and women-owned (WBE) businesses. The combined payroll and local spending are projected to generate nearly $160,000 in direct and related economic impact for the community.

Austin’s Commitment to Creativity

“Austin has always been a place where creativity doesn’t just live. It leads,” said Anthony Segura, Interim Director of Austin Economic Development. “With the updated Creative Content Incentive Program, we’re doubling down on what makes our city unmistakably ‘austin’: our storytellers, our creatives, our crews, and the communities that fuel them. To have a project like Brothers, led by two iconic Austinites, be the first recipient under the new guidelines is more then fitting. It is a reminder that when productions choose Austin, thay aren’t just filming here. They’re becoming part of our culture, our workforce, and our future. That’s something every Austinite can be proud of.”

About the Creative Content Incentive Program

Approved by City Council in 2014 and updated in 2025, the Creative Content Incentive Program encourages the growth and location of qualifying film, television, and gaming productions within the City of Austin. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis with no deadlines. Austin Economic Development

The Fall 2025 revisions expanded eligibility clarity, increased transparency, increased award amounts, and introduced strengthened local labor and reporting requirements to align incentives with direct economic benefit to Austin residents, ensuring that when productions succeed in Austin, Austin succeeds as well.

The program is administered by Austin Economic Development’s Business Incentives and Expansion Division, wich attracts investments, supports local business retention and expansion, and helps create jobs while preserving the cultural identity that makes Austin a creative and economic hub.

Businesses interested in applying can visit the Austin economic Development business Incentives website and complete the Incentive Inquiry Form to schedule a meeting with staff.