COMMENT: Alex has again clarified his position on this issue during the Sunday, Jan 2 edition of his radio program.
Charles Ealy
Austin American-Statesman
January 2, 2011
More than 500 people bombarded the Texas Film Commission and Gov. Rick Perry’s office with e-mails, letters and faxes last year, urging the state to deny incentives for director Robert Rodriguez’s “Machete,” according to documents released to the American-Statesman last week under a Public Information Act request.
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More than 140 of those communications were faxed form letters, saying that “Machete” was “nothing less than an attack on conservative Americans who oppose illegal immigration.” The letters were sent in May after Austin-based conservative radio talk show host Alex Jones questioned the possible use of state funds for the film.
In early May, Jones expressed outrage over a trailer for the movie that Rodriguez released on the Internet. The trailer, which came out just after passage of a new immigration law in Arizona, featured one of the stars, Danny Trejo, saying that he had “a special Cinco de Mayo message to Arizona.” He then proceeded to use a variety of weapons against Americans.
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Dozens of other e-mails to the film commission and the governor referred directly to Jones’ reports about “Machete.”
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RELATED: ‘Machete’s’ Danny Trejo Knocks Texas Film Commission Funding Decision
Bryan Alexander | Hollywood Reporter | Dec. 13, 2010
Rather than the film being negative to Texans, Trejo feels strongly the funding reversal goes against the Texan way-of-life.
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When asked if this could have been a factor in the funding decision, Trejo responds, “Could someone be that petty and ruin the reputation of a state, go back on their word, over a similarity or a statement? Texans don’t go back on their word.”
RELATED: Danny Trejo To Texas Film Commission: “That’s Not Texan”
Guanabee | Dec. 14, 2010
Danny Trejo has made public his disapproval of the Texas Film Commission’s decision to deny Machete tax incentives based on allegations that the film portrayed Texas in a negative light. The film’s star told The Hollywood Reporter, “It’s going back on your word. And that’s not Texan. I’m kind of hurt.” Machete don’t get hurt!
Trejo added, “I think the way (the Texas Film Commission) did this puts Texas in a bad light. All the folks at the Alamo would be pretty mad right now.” Boy he knows how to hit Texans where they live. Hey, great idea for a Machete sequel: Machete vs. Davy Crockett. We could bring John Wayne back to play him via cyborg and CGI. But Trejo has his own idea for a sequel:
“I think Machete 2 might have to be done in Arkansas. It might be Machete Kills the Texas Film Commission.” Now THAT would be a film worth seeing.
RELATED: Trejo: Commission going back on its word, betraying a hometown studio
Chris Tribbey | Home Media Magazine| Dec. 28, 2010
The film has De Niro as the corrupt Sen. John McLaughlin, a politician inciting the citizens of Texas against illegal immigrants. The political and racial undertones of the film caused a backlash in early December, after the Texas Film Commission denied tax incentives for Machete, citing a state code (485.022 e) that says requests for film incentives can be denied due to “inappropriate content or content that portrays Texas or Texans in a negative fashion.”
The refusal reportedly cost director Rodriguez’s Austin-based Troublemaker Studios $1.75 million. The film was shot in Austin.
Trejo took aim at the commission, accusing the state of going back on its word and betraying a hometown studio. He wondered why Texans weren’t “keeping their word.“
RELATED: Paging Robert Rodriguez: Don’t mess with Texas
L.A. Times Blog | Dec. 10, 2010
It’s practically taken for granted now that the vast majority of films shot outside of Hollywood are made in some state that offers a rich assortment of tax rebates to bring down the films’ budgets. But you can bet that studios are going to think twice about shooting their film in Texas after reading a new batch of stories saying that the Texas Film Commission is refusing to pay $1.75 million in state incentives to the producers of Robert Rodriguez’s “Machete,” which was released earlier this year by 20th Century Fox.
Texas officials have cited a state law that supposedly allows the state to refuse to pay incentives for “content that portrays Texas or Texans in a negative fashion.” To say this opens up an ugly can of worms would be an understatement. After all, who’s to judge whether a film has actually cast a state or its citizens in a negative light? And is the Texas Film Commission really going to argue that they never never read the “Machete” script before approving its financial incentives?
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