Leigh Ann Diaz and her husband, Mike, parked at the edge of the Wedgwood Village business center as the sun set on their southwest Fort Worth neighborhood.
They looked across the street as film set trailers, police cars and privacy barricades occupied an adjacent strip mall.
The Diazes couldn’t see much past security, but they didn’t mind. The longtime Wedgwood residents were just excited to know their community would soon make an appearance in one of Fort Worth-raised filmmaker Taylor Sheridan’s new TV projects.
Storefronts at 5356 Wedgmont Circle North were closed off by crews on July 9, 14, 15 and 18 to film scenes for the upcoming crime drama “Frisco King.” Some of the strip mall exteriors were redesigned to become fictional businesses signposted in Arabic, including a bazaar, travel agency and credit union. Some street names were also temporarily renamed.
The TV series — a spinoff of “Tulsa King” on Paramount+ — stars Samuel L. Jackson as a former New York hitman who sets out to build his own criminal empire in Frisco. The show is produced by Paramount Pictures and Sheridan’s 101 Studios.
Photography of the private set was strictly prohibited, according to signs around the property.
“Honestly I’m surprised they picked this of all places, but I still think it’s exciting,” Leigh Ann said as she looked toward the set on July 15. “If anything, it helps the economy. Who can be mad about that?”
It was unclear whether Jackson was on-site during the Fort Worth Report’s trip to the strip mall.
Filming for “Frisco King” has been underway since late March across multiple North Texas locations, including University Park in Dallas, downtown Fort Worth and Southlake.
During the four-day filming period, surrounding Wedgwood streets were closed including Wheaton Drive at Wedgmont Circle, Trail Lake Drive between Wedgmont and Waltham Avenue, and Wales Drive between Trail Lake and Winifred Drive.
Fort Worth police were on-site to facilitate traffic while all businesses maintained full access to their properties, according to a notice sent to residents.
“We understand that we are guests in your neighborhood and appreciate the opportunity to film here in Fort Worth,” Will Angst, a film location manager, wrote in the letter.
The Diazes weren’t the only residents curious to catch a glimpse of the action during the recent night shoot.
In a nearby Chevy Equinox, neighborhood postal worker Kim Petrowski gazed at the film trailers. Wedgwood’s inclusion in the project was major for such a tight-knit community, she said.
She shared how she and other delivery workers got confused by the street name changes when dropping off packages, including a section of Wedgmont Circle to the fictional Braxton Street.
“It caught me off guard for a second, but it’s quite interesting to see how much transformation they have done,” Petrowski said. “It brings a little bit more awareness and livelihood to the community.”
Production on “Frisco King” continues in Granbury on July 20 and 21 as crews film an overnight rave scene with adults between the ages of 18 and 25.
The upcoming series joins a slew of other Sheridan projects that have made Fort Worth their backdrops.
The popular TV drama “Landman” has filmed scenes at Frost Tower and Sundance Square in the city’s downtown, as well as Texas Christian University. The show’s second season held its premiere at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
Film crews closed off a significant portion of University Drive in the Cultural District in March for the spy series “Lioness,” which stars Academy Award winner Zoe Saldaña as a CIA operative who trains and leads female agents to go undercover and assassinate dangerous terrorists. Last fall, the show filmed in the Berkeley Place and Ryan Place neighborhoods.
“Frisco King” is expected to premiere in 2027, but an exact date has not been announced.
David Moreno is the arts and culture reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at david.moreno@fortworthreport.org. The Report’s arts and culture coverage is supported in part by the Meta Alice Keith Bratten Foundation and the Virginia Hobbs Charitable Trust.
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This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
