County extends timeline for tourism short-film contract; staff say vendor registered and no extra funds added
March 30, 2026 | El Paso County, Texas
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The El Paso County Commissioners Court approved an amendment on March 30 extending the timeline on a $45,000 HOT (hotel occupancy tax) event grant award to Blue Bunny Films/Versus Studios for a short film to promote El Paso County tourism.
Dr. Cynthia Renteria of the economic development department (speaker 33) told the court the vendor, previously out-of-state, had registered with the state and the amendment principally extends the contract timeline to align promotion with film-festival season (the vendor indicated promotion would begin in November 2026 and run through December 2027). She said no additional county funding is being requested: "No funding has been added. It has been mostly the timeline and requesting that they register with the state, which they've already done." Renteria said the contractor expects to complete a final cut in August and begin festival promotion in November.
Commissioners raised procedural concerns about the length of the extension and the difficulty of tracking long-running contracts across staff and court changes. Commissioner questions focused on monitoring deliverables and whether the county could require interim reporting. Renteria said the county would align contract reporting with the tax-code reporting schedule (interim reports every 90 days and a final reimbursement request and deliverable review) and hold final reimbursement until deliverables are submitted.
A motion to approve the amendment was made by Commissioner Butler and seconded by Commissioner Coronado; the court approved the amendment. County staff said they will continue to require the vendor to submit periodic progress reports and will hold final payments until the product and promotional deliverables are verified.
Dr. Cynthia Renteria of the economic development department (speaker 33) told the court the vendor, previously out-of-state, had registered with the state and the amendment principally extends the contract timeline to align promotion with film-festival season (the vendor indicated promotion would begin in November 2026 and run through December 2027). She said no additional county funding is being requested: "No funding has been added. It has been mostly the timeline and requesting that they register with the state, which they've already done." Renteria said the contractor expects to complete a final cut in August and begin festival promotion in November.
Commissioners raised procedural concerns about the length of the extension and the difficulty of tracking long-running contracts across staff and court changes. Commissioner questions focused on monitoring deliverables and whether the county could require interim reporting. Renteria said the county would align contract reporting with the tax-code reporting schedule (interim reports every 90 days and a final reimbursement request and deliverable review) and hold final reimbursement until deliverables are submitted.
A motion to approve the amendment was made by Commissioner Butler and seconded by Commissioner Coronado; the court approved the amendment. County staff said they will continue to require the vendor to submit periodic progress reports and will hold final payments until the product and promotional deliverables are verified.
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