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ROLL BASTROPSCENE 001EXT. HILL COUNTRY — DAYDIR. TEXAS

The Film-Friendly
Capital of Texas

Thirty miles east of Austin, along the Colorado River, a stretch of Central Texas has quietly become Hollywood’s next backlot. The Legislature calls Bastrop County the “film-friendly capital of Texas” — and from Bastrop to the Hays County Hill Country, hundreds of millions in soundstages are rolling. This is the field guide.

4
Major campuses
700+
Acres rolling
15+
Soundstages
$1.5B
State incentive
The Studios — Now Shooting

Four campuses, one corridor.

Two anchors in Bastrop County on the Colorado River; two more across the Hays County Hill Country — from a 600-acre Hollywood-scale ranch to the largest LED Volume stage in Texas.

204Bastrop County · Bastrop
OperatorLine 204 Studios
PrincipalAlton Butler
LocationColorado River
StatusBroke ground 2026
Now Building

204 Texas

aka Bastrop 552

The flagship. A nearly 600-acre self-sustained studio complex hugging the Colorado River just west of Lovers Lane — the Texas venture of L.A.-based production-rental house Line 204 Studios, led by CEO Alton Butler, who pitches “Hollywood excellence with the spirit of Texas.”

The plan: six studios, two 10,000-sq-ft soundstages, a three-story office, a warehouse with mill space, on-site grip, lighting and truck rentals — and a working longhorn ranch out front with immersive sets where visitors stay the night. Approved 2021, ground broken 2026, targeting full operation by Q2 2026.

~600 acres~500K sq ft2×10K stages6 studios
02Bastrop County · FM 1209
BackerZachary Levi
Budget~$100M
Footprint75 acres
StatusOpens 2027
Construction 2025

Wyldwood Studios

Backed by actor Zachary Levi

The county’s second anchor — a 75-acre studio village along FM 1209 spurred by actor Zachary Levi, estimated at roughly $100 million. Construction is slated to begin in December, with the first two soundstages planned to open in 2027.

Where 204 Texas reads as a sprawling rental campus, Wyldwood is pitched as a community-minded creative hub — a sign the talent itself, not just the rental houses, is betting on Bastrop. It makes the county a two-anchor market, not a one-project story.

75 acres$100M est.2 stages, phase 1FM 1209
03Hays County · Dripping Springs
FounderNate Strayer
SpecLargest Volume in TX
TechLED / Unreal
StatusOpen 2023
Open Now

Stray Vista Studios

Dripping Springs · founded by Nate Strayer

The corridor’s technology bellwether. West of Austin in Dripping Springs, Stray Vista is home to what its team bills as the largest LED Volume soundstage in Texas. Founded by Nate Strayer, it soft-opened in February 2023 and had already hosted three projects out of the gate.

Its Volume stage wraps productions in giant LED walls driven by the Unreal game engine — the in-camera virtual-production approach behind shows like The Mandalorian, now a short drive from Bastrop.

LED VolumeUnreal engineOpen since 2023
04Hays County · San Marcos
Stages12 planned
Space310,000 sq ft
Backlot15 acres
StatusIn development
Planned

Hill Country Studios

San Marcos · on the I-35 spine

The largest planned stage footprint in the corridor — a San Marcos campus designed around 12 soundstages totaling 310,000 sq ft, plus 15 acres of backlot, roughly midway between Austin and San Antonio.

Positioned south of Bastrop along I-35, it pushes the Central Texas studio map into the booming San Marcos market and rounds out a four-campus cluster few regions in the country can match.

12 soundstages310K sq ft15-acre backlotSan Marcos
Shooting Schedule

How the boom rolled in.

From a city-council vote to groundbreakings and the largest film incentive in Texas history — the milestones driving Central Texas’s studio surge.

2021

Bastrop 552 approved

Bastrop City Council greenlights the 546-acre development that becomes 204 Texas.

2023

Stray Vista opens

Texas’s largest LED Volume stage soft-opens in Dripping Springs and books its first three projects.

Aug 2025

Wyldwood announced

Zachary Levi’s ~$100M, 75-acre studio becomes Bastrop County’s second major anchor.

Sept 2025

Senate Bill 22 takes effect

Texas commits $1.5 billion over ten years to the Moving Image Industry Incentive Program.

2026

204 Texas breaks ground

After utility and permitting delays, the ~600-acre complex breaks ground, targeting Q2-2026 operation.

2027

Wyldwood stages open

Construction begun in Dec 2025; the first two soundstages are planned to come online.

Production Notes

Why they’re all shooting here.

Location, money, and momentum — the case that turned a county east of Austin into the capital.

01 / The Money

A $1.5B Incentive

Senate Bill 22 (2025) commits $1.5 billion over ten years to the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program. Productions can stack additional grants to a maximum rebate of up to 31% of eligible Texas spend.

02 / The Map

30 Minutes from Austin

The corridor pairs Austin-adjacency — crews, vendors, an international airport — with Hill Country land and a tax base that let studio-scale builds actually pencil out, from Bastrop to San Marcos.

03 / The Momentum

The Capital, Officially

The Legislature dubbed Bastrop County the “film-friendly capital of Texas.” A neighboring tech surge — including Elon Musk’s Bastrop-area operations — is reshaping the very corridor the studios chose.

SOURCES // Community Impact — 204 Texas breaks ground · Actor plans Bastrop studio // KXAN — 546-acre Bastrop 552 // Austin Chronicle — Three new studios // Texas Film Commission — TMIIIP