HOLLYWOOD HERNANDEZ

PEOPLE Mayor STEVE BARTLETT was exercising a bit of artistic license in his inaugural address when he announced that he had asked his friend (and vanquished mayoral foe) FRANK HERNANDEZ to chair a new Dallas Film Commission. Bartlett hadn’t actually gotten around to asking yet, but when he did, later that day, Hernandez accepted.

A civil rights lawyer-working to bring film biz to Dallas? Yes. More than two years ago, Hernandez took a sabbatical from his law practice to study film-making at New York University. Meanwhile, Bartlett was yearning to return home from Washington, and the city of Dallas was easing itself out of the Film Commission of North Texas (FCNT) for budgetary reasons.

Between his stint at NYU and the time he spent hanging around the Dallas set of Oliver Stone’s JFK, Hernandez, star struck, decided to close his law practice and become a movie director. Bartlett came home to run for mayor, but not before visiting with ROGER BURKE, executive director of the FCNT, about the economic benefits of feature films.

During the mayor’s race, Bartlett and Hernandez realized they shared an interest in bringing more film production to Dallas. Hernandez wrote up a memo on the subject and Bartlett promised to get back with him, which he did, sort of, in the inaugural speech.

After drafting Hernandez, the mayor notified City Manager JAN HART that he wanted Dallas back on the membership role of the FCNT. Hernandez and Burke say the two commissions will complement each other rather than compete. As for his own aspirations of directing feature films, Hernandez says he feels like he did when he graduated from law school: “I fell capable then but I didn’t have any clients. I feel capable now. I’ve watched good people doing it. but it’s still not the same as doing it yourself.”