• February 23, 1979 For immediate release: The Texas Film Commission, Office of the Governor, today announced that three feature-length motion picture productions will take place in Texas during the first four months of this year. Paramount Pictures will film URBAN COWBOY, a co-production of Robert Evans and Irving Azoff. The film is based on an article by Aaron Latham which appeared in the September 12, 1978 issue of Esquire Magazine. Most of the filming will take place in Pasadena at Gilley 's, a dance hall and general meeting place for "urban cowboys" in the Houston area. John Travolta has been cast in the leading role, and much of the other acting talent will be cast locally. Universal Studios will begin production on RESURRECTION near Shiner and San Marcos in late February, ending in April on locations near El Paso. RESURRECTION will star Ellen Burstyn, who received an Academy Award for her lead role in ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANINORE in 1974, and who just received a Golden Globe Award and another Academy Award nomination for her role in SAME TIME, NEXT YEAR. Sam Sheppard, who stars in DAYS OF HEAVEN, will star with Burstyn. Director of the film is Dan Petrie, The producers are Renee Missel and Howard Rosenman. David Loxton of WNET-TV (NLd York) and Fred Barzyk of r)BH (Boston) will work together as co-producers and directors of a science fiction project for the VISIONS series on the Public Broadcasting System. The film, THE LATHE OF HEAVEN, stars Bruce Davidson and will be produced in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The Film Commission estimates that these three productions will bring several million dollars in out-of-state money to the Texas economy during the first four months of this year. This money will be spent for meals and lodging, local actors and technical people, location fees, set construction, automobile rentals and sales, equipment rentals, and many smaller expenditures necessary to local pLcductions. This figure does not include the personal expenditures made by film people during their stay in TtX3S. Last year, nearly twenty feature-length productions were filmed, all or in- part, in Texas. The Film Commission estimates, conservatively, that these productions left over sixteen million dollars in the state. No other state outside of California or New York boasts this level of major film activity. The Texas Film Commission is a division of the Governor's Office whose purpose is to promote the use of Texas people and locations in film and video- tape productions, and to encourage the growth of the in-state film and videotape industry. # # # For further information: contact Pat Wolfe 475-3785