When Christian Wallace began developing “Boomtown,” he wanted to dive beyond the numbers of the 21st-century oil boom and focus on the real people behind it. Little did the Andrews, Texas, native realize that the podcast — produced by Texas Monthly in partnership with Imperative Entertainment and syndicated on Marfa Public Radio — would eventually lead him to Hollywood.
Wallace, now a journalist, screenwriter and proud member of the Writers Guild of America (WGA), spoke Thursday at West Texas A&M University as part of the Nall Lecture Series, sponsored by the Center for the Study of the American West. He recalled how “Boomtown” launched on Dec. 10, 2019, with Jason Hoch as its executive producer, and soon became a breakout success.
“I grew up in a small town called Andrews,” Wallace said. “My family are cotton farmers, oil field hands, and working cowboys. Though I was steeped in these traditions, I knew early on that I wanted to be a writer.”…