East Texas filmmaker sets open casting call for upcoming film

Published 5:50 am Monday, February 23, 2026

Hallsville native Micah Lyons has been making movies for several years, starting with smaller, low-budget productions and gradually working his way up to larger-scale, more expensive ones with well-known cast members.

Chad Michael Murray, Bruce Dern and Willie Robertson of “Duck Dynasty” were the stars of his most recent western, “Bad Men Must Bleed.”

But nobody starts at the top, and on Saturday, East Texans who aspire to be stars could have an opportunity to shine. Lyons is hosting an open casting call at Carmela’s Magical Venue just outside Longview for his next movie, and it’s open to anyone – no experience required. 

“Everyone’s welcome because it’s Lyons Family Studios, and we want to build that,” Lyons said. 

Lyons’ upcoming film, “Stigma,” will be a family-friendly cat-and-mouse-style crime thriller set in East Texas. A single, desperate young mother from Longview moves back to town after swearing she never would, and she finds out her father is in prison because he stole money from his deranged old business partner.

The mother resolves to find the money and escape Longview once and for all, solving all of her problems.

“Problem is,” Lyons said, “the old, deranged business partner finds out she’s in town and snooping around, and he will stop at nothing to find his money and chase her down, not let her find it,” Lyons said. He expects it’ll be rated PG-13.

Hopefully, a good majority of the cast and crew will be from East Texas, Lyons said. Starring roles, supporting roles and extra roles need to be filled. 

“We’re gonna cast probably a lot of people from the open casting call,” he said. 

All audition materials and instructions will be provided upon arrival at the venue, 6085 U.S.-259 North. People of all ages and ethnicities are needed.

The line begins at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, and doors open at noon. Doors close promptly at 4 p.m.

It’s a unique opportunity for East Texans, Lyons said. He is producing films that have budgets in the millions of dollars, and movies of that size usually don’t have open casting calls. 

“It’s always through agents only,” Lyons said. “But we want to keep it like it was when we started. So, that involves East Texas.

“I would have died for this opportunity when I was in high school.”

A crew summit – a networking event for people who want to be involved with the film behind the scenes – will begin at 5 p.m. Aspiring crew members can bring resumes, but they aren’t required. 

Lyons also wants to meet vendors of various services and products that’ll be necessary for movie-making: dry cleaners, electricians, carpenters, portable restroom providers, RV rental services, catering services, hair stylists and more. 

Lyons hopes Saturday’s audition and crew summit will help him develop a network of actors, crew members and vendors that he can enlist for future movies he’ll be making in East Texas. Filmmaking in places such as Austin is easier because there is already a large group of experienced actors, actresses and crew members living there. He wants to cultivate such a network here.

“There’s a lot of really great benefits already here that would make someone want to shoot here compared to there,” he said. “They just don’t because we don’t have the infrastructure.”

Lyons is solving that problem, too. 

He and his family walked inside his soon-to-be film studio Tuesday on Cotton Street in downtown Longview as workers climbed ladders and fired up power tools. They’re turning a nearly 90-year-old building, formerly a furniture store, into Lyons’ space to bring stories to the silver screen. 

Filmmaking “has a massive economic impact on the area,” he said. He plans to make between two and four movies of his own each year in East Texas and four or five movies for other people and companies. 

He also offers acting classes on Tuesday nights in Longview through his Micah Lyons Acting Studio. Classes are available for children and adults. Those interested should check out the Micah Lyons Acting Studio Facebook page or Instagram page (@_MicahLyons) for more information. 

Lyons’ latest film, “Bad Men Must Bleed,” was filmed in Hallsville, Los Angeles and Austin. It’s available for people to watch for free on Tubi and Prime Video. 

Lyons said he feels called to make movies. Years ago, he read Ezekiel 37 in the Bible, which recounts when God told the prophet Ezekiel to prophecy that dead bones in the valley would become living people again. 

“The words just literally came up off the page, and I just immediately heard that and felt that I was supposed to make movies that breathe life into people and wake them up and bring them back to life,” he said. “I’ve yet to make a truly ‘faith-based’ film, but my faith is integrated into really everything we do. Most of what we’ve done so far has been genre stuff – action, western, thriller – that kind of stuff. But if you’re paying attention, you definitely can see those through lines.”

As of February, he has started working on a more overtly religious film – “Lost Girl,” the story of Rebecca Contreras. Contreras was abandoned when she was 5 years old, and her early years were filled with abuse, neglect, drugs and crime. But she ended up working at the White House for President George W. Bush and becoming a millionaire. Lyons signed the deal last week to produce her biopic. 

“That’s going to be the biggest movie in my career so far,” Lyons said. 

Lyons’ wife, Brooke, remembers what his career was like in its infancy. After college, the couple moved to Los Angeles, and they worked at restaurants and pulled odd jobs to make ends meet. They moved to East Texas in 2019 and have set about making it a Hollywood of their own. 

“It’s been a long road,” Brooke said. “When we moved out to L.A., we had nothing. Our first piece of furniture was off the street, and we cleaned it off and moved it into our apartment. We lived off our wedding gift cards, and we just never gave up on the dream. And we just kept going. I feel like a lot of people would quit or go back home. 

“The dream has always been there. He is relentless. He’s always optimistic. He never gave up.”

That sentiment is shared.

“Really committing yourself to your spouse and never giving up on each other – that’s such a massive part of our story, and neither one of us would be here today, standing in front of this amazing building, if it weren’t for each other,” Micah Lyons said. 

Hence, he said, the name: Lyons Family Studios.