Goldenrod Launches Real-Time Incentive Tracking for Productions in Texas, Louisiana, and Kentucky

Goldenrod launched a real-time financial platform that categorizes a production's qualified spend as it lands and packages the final rebate submission for state film commissions, with coverage live in Texas, Louisiana, and Kentucky. Producers and financiers can see incentive exposure during the shoot rather than months later at submittal, when compliance gaps are harder to fix.

• Live in three states, private beta elsewhere. Texas, Louisiana, and Kentucky productions can use the full engagement now, while productions in other US markets can apply for limited early access.
• Three phases cover the full incentive lifecycle. Goldenrod pairs software with consulting to plan eligible spend before the shoot, flag compliance issues during production, and assemble a commission-ready submission after delivery.
• A free incentives database ships alongside. The company says the database covers every US state program with a per-state calculator and a side-by-side comparison, with no email required.
• Built by working filmmakers. Co-founders Ted Griffis and Brandon Thomas run Austin post-production studio TBD Post, and co-founder Russell Wayne Groves founded The Ranch Productions.

Qualified spend gets categorized in real time as it lands

The platform tracks every qualified dollar as it is spent, splits it across categories like AP vendor and payroll, and shows how close a production is to its spend goal. It surfaces in-state versus out-of-state days, flags items at risk, and displays a projected rebate that the company notes is an estimate tied to current qualified spend.

The company frames it as one source of truth, with producers, financiers, and the accounting team looking at the same numbers in real time.

Groves described the pitch this way: "Think of it like TurboTax for production incentives: you focus on the work, we make sure you're maximizing every dollar you're entitled to, and your financiers always know exactly where things stand."

The rebate math behind the Texas rollout

Goldenrod ties its launch timing to Texas's incentives funding. According to the release, the state's $1.5 billion production fund works as a cash rebate rather than a tax incentive, with qualifying productions eligible for up to a 31% cash rebate on budgets starting at $250,000.

The fight over tax incentives has productions chasing rebates across jurisdictions.

Those same pressures have reshaped where films shoot, pushing work toward states with the deepest rebate pools.

Filmmakers built it, and SXSW titles tested it first

Goldenrod says it was founded after the passage of the Texas fund by a team with production, film commission, and producing experience. TBD Post credits cited in the release include Markiplier's Iron Lung, Netflix's The Long Game, and the Apple TV+ documentary Fathom. Multiple films that premiered at SXSW used Goldenrod during a private testing phase.

Goldenrod founders Ted Griffis, Brandon Thomas, and Russell Wayne Groves, from left. (Goldenrod)

The platform supports film, television, commercial, and video game productions, and the company says a wider financial layer tracking a production's money from first dollar in to last dollar out is in build. Producers shooting outside the three live states can submit a project for review and join the controlled early-access rollout as Goldenrod adds coverage across more US incentive markets.