'Control of your destiny': Growth in state film industry brings Oklahomans back from L.A.

For 17 years, Randy Wayne worked in Los Angeles, acting in hit television shows like "True Blood," "Sons & Daughters" and "The Secret Life of the American Teenager," and appearing in a slew of movies, from the faith-based film "To Save a Life" to the horror flick "The Haunting of Molly Hartley."

When he was offered a shot at joining the long-running horror franchise "Hellraiser" with a starring role in 2018's "Hellraiser: Judgment," the Moore native said he was puzzled to learn it was shooting in Oklahoma City.

"I remember thinking, 'Why?' But I got a taste of what's happening here. When I left L.A. six years ago, I stopped in Oklahoma City to put stuff in storage, and I was gonna move to Atlanta," Wayne recalled.

"But I booked a job in Italy, and then one in Kentucky and all over. And I was like, 'I don't have to live in Georgia. I can move here.' I started a production company because ... I saw an opportunity, and I convinced my girlfriend at that time to move to Oklahoma. And it's been a rocket ship, it's been wild, and I'm so happy. There's nothing cooler than shooting in Oklahoma."

As hundreds of people gathered in the second-floor rotunda March 25 for Oklahoma Film and Music Day at the state Capitol, many of them, like Wayne, were Oklahoma natives who have returned to the Sooner State in recent years to take advantage of opportunities to work in the entertainment industry that didn't exist when they left.

"We're changing the landscape in Oklahoma ... for the creative generation that comes after us. I had to leave, and I had to go to L.A. because I couldn't work here 20 years ago," said Rachel Cannon, a Tulsa native who worked as an actress on TV series like "Ghost Whisperer," "Two and a Half Men" and "Fresh Off the Boat" before moving in 2020 to OKC, where she co-founded Prairie Surf Studios.

"I'm in for the long haul. I want to see this industry grow, and I think it's going to take years to get it where we want it to be. And I'm OK with that. ... I think we're doing a great job of moving towards better opportunities for people to be able to live and work here."

Who attended Oklahoma Film and Music Day at the Capitol?

For the March 25 state Capitol showcase, more than 50 film- and music-related businesses, school programs and organizations from across the state set up booths, offering specific services, career development opportunities, workforce training, community resources and more.

The booths and people filled the second-floor rotunda and spilled into the hallway outside the Oklahoma Supreme Court, where a special exhibit of costumes and props from the Oklahoma-made and Oscar-nominated movie “Killers of the Flower Moon” was displayed.

It was the third year for representatives of the state film industry to gather in Oklahoma City for Film Day. The event started out two years ago at the nearby Oklahoma History Center and moved in 2023 to the state Capitol.

Organized by the Oklahoma Film + Music Office, Oklahoma Film Day this year became Oklahoma Film and Music Day. Sooner State singer-songwriters Kalyn Fay, Jacob Tovar, Abbigale Dawn, Dylan Stewart and Stephen Salewon took turns playing on a small stage on the second-floor rotunda.

Norman native Maggie McClure works in both the music and film industries in her home state: She is primarily a singer, songwriter and pianist who performs with her husband, Verden native and fellow musician Shane Henry, in their Americana duo The Imaginaries. But she's also an actress, film producer and president of Searchlight Music Group, a production music company that sources music for movies, TV shows, commercials and games.

"There has been a lot going on with the film industry here in Oklahoma; the music industry is starting to follow, as well. It's always been happening, but things are really starting to reignite here ... so it's an exciting time to be here," McClure said during Film and Music Day.

That wasn't always the case for the musical couple, who married in 2011. Henry and McClure moved to Los Angeles in 2012 with hopes of working in TV, music and movies. Although they found job opportunities there, she said living in L.A. was expensive. In 2018, they decided to move back to their home state, where they launched The Imaginaries and Searchlight Music Group.

"Being in Los Angeles is pretty amazing. You never know who you're going to meet, what's going to happen, because the city is full of entertainment folks," she said. "But the great thing about being in Oklahoma is that when there is something going on, it's a lot easier to get involved. People are more approachable."

How are Oklahomans moving back to their home state finding opportunities in the movie business?

In 2021, she reunited with L.A. writer-director Timothy Armstrong on the family-friendly film "A Cowgirl's Song," with McClure and her husband writing and producing the 11-song soundtrack, co-producing the movie and playing supporting roles in the made-in-Oklahoma musical drama.

Although the Netflix release didn't receive the state film rebate, McClure said she believes the new incentive put in place with the Filmed in Oklahoma Act of 2021 has already proven a valuable resource.

"It's bringing opportunities to Oklahomans who want to work in this field. ... We submitted for the rebate, and unfortunately, we didn't get it. So, for 'A Cowgirl's Song,' we reached out to local investors here in Oklahoma, and they were the main reason why we were able to make the film. And we're so grateful for that," McClure said.

Nowadays, McClure said she is working as the music supervisor on a movie that did receive the state rebate, along with the Cherokee Nation's film incentive: The coming-of-age story "The Book of Jobs," starring Judy Greer ("Jurassic World"), Utkarsh Ambudkar ("Ghosts") and newcomer Abigail Donaghy ("Bupkis"), filmed last fall in Tulsa and Bartlesville.

"It's a really awesome project ... and I would probably not have been hired to be the music supervisor on this movie if it wasn't filmed in Oklahoma and a post-production incentive did not exist. So, I'm a living example of this working," she said.

Now based in Tulsa, Wayne is another example of the state's investment in the film industry bringing Oklahomans back home to work. Although he is still acting — Wayne, along with Cannon, McClure and Henry all played supporting roles in the long-awaited biopic "Reagan," filmed primarily in Guthrie in 2020 — he has shifted his focus to producing movies as well as working as a production and location manager.

Wayne and his wife, Talia Bella, founded their production company, Rebellium Films (formerly Thunderbird Films) in 2019.

"We've done 15 features in four and a half years, so that's been nice. (We've made) 14 here and one in Texas. We didn't get the rebate on that one, so we went to Texas. There's been a couple that we didn't get the rebate on that we still managed to film here anyway," Wayne told The Oklahoman during Oklahoma Film and Music Day at the Capitol.

"I left L.A. early, before everyone else started leaving ... and friends of mine started seeing us working a lot. So, I described Oklahoma to them and what they could expect. Then, I had 13 people move from L.A. to Oklahoma."

Model House Official Trailer from Rebellium Films on Vimeo.

The new Okie transplants include his friends "Jerry Maguire" star Jonathan Lipnicki and "Hook" actor Ryan Francis, who are now making movies as well as acting in them.

"They just saw, hey, you can do more than just wait for a phone call. You can come here and make movies ... and have control of your destiny," Wayne said, adding that one of his homegrown horror films, "Model House," is playing in theaters April 5.

"I don't think there's a more film-friendly state than Oklahoma."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Okies migrating back from California to work in Oklahoma film industry