06/27/2025
Statement by Sharpened Iron Studios
Re: Amarillo College Board of Regents Actions
Date: June 27, 2025
The Amarillo College Board of Regents voted after nearly two hours of closed-door and no public discussion, to terminate Sharpened Iron Studios’ (SIS) 50-year lease on the downtown Amarillo property at 1314 S. Polk. This action is a breach of the lease agreement, and we are confident that will become abundantly clear in the days ahead.
Rather than address their own repeated failures to meet lease obligations, including unresolved infrastructure issues, asbestos disclosure and remediation, approval delay, and failure to create the required film school, Amarillo College has chosen to scapegoat SIS. Their public statements are not factual, and we will respond accordingly.
Let us be clear: we have and will continue to advocate for the future of film in Texas.
We were not notified of this decision before it was made public; an act that speaks volumes about how this matter has been handled. SIS learned of the lease termination not from the college directly, but from media coverage. That’s not just a breach of process, it’s a breach of trust.
From the beginning, SIS entered this partnership with optimism and commitment. We agreed to invest significantly in the revitalization of downtown Amarillo and we have done so. SIS has spent $3.5 million in renovations, construction, and equipping Amarillo College’s facilities.
Amarillo College and the chair of the Board of Regents, Jay Barret, are intentionally misleading the public about the lease in an effort to create a smokescreen to hide their own failing. The lease, now made public by Amarillo College, makes it clear the timeline in section 4.01 (vii), a clock that has not yet started.
The claim by Mr. Barrett’s statements that a film school was not possible due to lack of facilities is false. SIS has built a 3,000 square foot soundstage, a new editing suite, interview room, and extensive camera, grip and electric department. This includes everything needed and more to run a successful film school similar to Tarrant County Community College and Oklahoma City Community College, programs which train hundreds of students a year. We have either filmed or participated in over 120 productions ranging from music videos to feature films, including our own projects and providing support services such as space, equipment, and crew, always working to promote AC students first.
The Amarillo Chamber of Commerce and AEDC sponsored an economic impact report which stated SIS would generate $225 million in direct and indirect economic impact and create 1,295 jobs in the region and revitalize our downtown. Amarillo College has now jeopardized that future.
Despite repeated institutional obstacles, we have honored our side of the agreement and operated with integrity. We secured a major policy win for Texas filmmakers with the passage of Senate Bill 22, which will help us continue building a sustainable future for film in this state and in Amarillo.
Sharpened Iron Studios is not going anywhere. We remain active, engaged, and committed to our mission. Legal counsel has been engaged, and we will soon announce who will be representing the studio moving forward.
To our supporters, collaborators, and community: thank you for standing with us. We’ve weathered COVID, the most disruptive strikes in our industry’s history, and now this. And we are still standing.
We look forward to what's next.
