Fort Worth’s Finest — How Hill Country Native Chad Mathews Went From Film Major at TCU to Executive Director of Lone Star Film Society

Behind every local festival, event, and initiative are people whose singularly unique talents — and willingness to put in long hours — shape and elevate Cowtown’s culture and quality of life. To honor those pioneering and visionary men and women, PaperCity Fort Worth is launching a new monthly series called “Fort Worth’s Finest.”

Our first recognition goes to Chad Mathews, executive director of the Lone Star Film Society, the nonprofit behind the Lone Star Film Festival (LSFF). Every fall, the festival brings A-list celebrities to Fort Worth for a week of screenings, educational events, and one of the buzziest galas in town. We caught up with Mathews to learn how he developed his passion for film and how the LSFF helps position Fort Worth as a national player in the industry.

Hill Country Roots to Heading a Regional Film Festival

A native Texan whose father worked in the garment industry, Mathews attended high school in Victoria and spent his childhood summers in Fredericksburg before attending Texas Christian University, where he majored in film.

“There was no real film industry in Fort Worth at the time,” he recalls. “You had to move to either New York or Los Angeles to pursue job opportunities, and I thought it would be easier to be broke in L.A. rather than New York City. I ended up having a really great experience in California, auditioning, taking acting classes, and working service jobs.”

His time in Los Angeles coincided with the emergence of digital technology that made it possible to write a script and shoot a film without the need for support from a large company. Just five years prior, he notes, making a film was “outrageously expensive and not something the average person could do.”

Mathews started making short films that later screened at film festivals, which led him to launch the Hill Country Film Festival in 2010. He fell in love with the world of film festivals, where he could champion other filmmakers and further the art form in his hometown. After 15 years in L.A., he moved to Austin to take a more hands-on approach to the festival that heavily relied on volunteers.

“It was challenging in the sense that none of the team were paid,” he says. “We were doing it just for the love of Fredericksburg and film.”

Around a decade ago, a leadership position opened at the Lone Star Film Society. Mathews began commuting from Austin to Fort Worth for a time before relocating his family here to devote his full attention to running the festival and educational initiatives of the Fort Worth nonprofit, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.

Twenty Years of Memorable Festivals and Educational Initiatives

Mathews moved back to Fort Worth around the time Visit Fort Worth launched the city’s first film commission. The confluence of those events created steady leadership that led to Cowtown’s current position as a highly sought-after destination for film production. While the LSFF honored actors like Bill Paxton, Robert Duvall, and other icons every fall, the film commission began courting filmmakers and facilitating productions from top-tier shows like Yellowstone.

A generous donation from the Sid Richardson Foundation is allowing the Film Society to expand scholarships for teens attending its 2026 summer film camps at Texas Christian University. Mathews hopes to one day secure enough funding to provide after-school programming for aspiring young filmmakers.

“There are so many opportunities now with local film,” he says. “When I was a kid, I didn’t know you could make movies for a living. Part of our job is letting them know about the opportunities we have here.”

Last fall’s LSFF gala featured actors Billy Bob Thornton and Sam Elliott, along with singer-songwriter and Oscar nominee Abraham Alexander. The large gathering at Bowie House’s ballroom also drew notable guests like filmmaker Taylor Sheridan and actor Andy Garcia.

“Those actors had an additional connection because they had lived here for a few months,” when filming Landman: Season 2, Mathews says. “That event was very memorable, but each gala has been notable in its own unique ways.”

Like other film festivals across the country, the LSFF took a hit in viewership in 2020 due to the pandemic, but has since rebuilt with support from the community. Mathews cites the festival’s ongoing relations with The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, which will again host much of the film festival this fall, as an important partnership. His long-term goals for the nonprofit are to one day secure a physical space to call home year-round and to expand its educational programming.

“All of that takes time,” Mathews says. “City leaders and our mayor are seeing the financial impact the film industry has on our city. On top of that, we want to continue to present a great festival that programs really good movies. Fortunately, we’ve had the support of the community. If that continues, we should continue to grow.”