New director of Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture announced

TULSA, Okla. — It’s no secret Tulsa is growing when it comes to the film and music scene, but now there is a new face at the front of that continued fight for growth.

Meg Gould has taken on the role of executive director for the Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture (Tulsa FMAC) for about two weeks now.

Although new to Tulsa, Gould is far from new to the industry.

She started in Los Angeles as a production coordinator about 30 years ago working on projects such as “Godzilla”, the Academy Awards, the World Cup, and one project Oklahomans in particular will appreciate: Garth Brooks’ “Red Strokes” music video.

Gould has spent the past several years in Dallas working on “Walker, Texas Ranger” before joining the Dallas Film Commission and then transitioning into tourism at VisitDallas. She brings that experience to Tulsa with an eagerness.

“I could not wait to get to Tulsa,” Gould says. “I see a momentum and I want to be a part of that. I want to help develop an amazing program for this area.”

In fact, Tulsa and OKC moved up the list on MovieMaker’s Best Places to Live and Work as a Filmmaker in 2022, which was just announced this month. OKC ranked #13 out of 25 big cities, Tulsa ranked #5 out of 10 in the small cities category.

MovieMaker compiles this list based on surveys, production spending, film incentives, additional research and personal visits where possible.

“Oklahoma City and Tulsa have moved up in our list in no small part thanks to the Filmed in Oklahoma Act, which raised incentives from $8 million to $30 million and offers great cash rebates to encourage filming in Oklahoma,” says MovieMaker editor-in-chief Tim Molloy. “The community is seeing the results in an abundance of big and small productions. Local indie filmmaking mastermind Mickey Reece put it best when he said, ‘Don’t believe me, ask Scorsese’ — since the director filmed his latest in the Sooner State.”

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“They obviously love the look of Oklahoma and what we have to offer and we just need to keep them coming,” Gould says. “We just have to get Hollywood here. I know from past experience that there are certain stereotypes with certain cities so we just need to get them here so that they can see what we have to offer.”

She says directors, producers and studios look at MovieMaker magazine so getting a mention on the list is important.

“We are open for business and we are ready for them,” she adds, saying she plans to reach out to executives to get even more eyes on Tulsa.

Gould says one of the first things she wants to tackle in her new role is the potential for a large studio. She says there needs to be a large space with a sound studio and offices to house film departments as they come in to film. She also wants to implement more workforce training so that Tulsa has the people to fill production positions as they come up here.

In Fiscal Year 21 (July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021), the Oklahoma Film + Music Office (OF+MO) estimates the creation of 11,004 local career opportunities with a direct fiscal impact of $170.4 million from 32 film and television productions utilizing the state’s film incentive program.

“That means that people are really recognizing Tulsa as a filming location,” Gould says. “We are getting a lot of hype right now!”

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