Variety: Thinking about making a film? NM may be your answer.
Just a few short years ago New Mexico's film community was "...a loosely organized wisp of film professionals...many of them refugees from Hollywood who'd taken to the more relaxed New Mexico way of life," according to Variety in a six part feature. But now, it's composed of 1,800 film professionals, with the largest crew base outside of Los Angeles and New York, and a community "deep enough" to support up to six productions. Governor Richardson claims the state has made 1.8 billion in revenue.
Half of them live in Santa Fe, where the film office is shifting its focus, according to this Variety article. First, the Santa Fe Studios are in the works, a six-stage, 600,000-square-foot facility that will be just south of the city. Apparently, the eight-stage Albuquerque Studios is pretty much booked these days. Plus, there's an effort to provide non-stop air service to Santa Fe so that busy film professionals can trim some time off their commute:
"American Airlines and Delta are in the process of getting clearance from the FAA," claims Eric Witt, head of Gov. Bill Richardson's media arts development initiative. "They're looking to direct 70- to 100-seat passenger jets from L.A., Denver and Dallas."
(Well, with the price of fuel inching ever higher, we'll see)
Variety notes the high caliber of the movies that have been filmed in New Mexico, including 14 Oscar-nominated movies last year, such as No Country for Old Men, 3:10 to Yuma, In the Valley of Elah, and Transformers, and also lists the most recent productions.
New Mexico has invested a lot of money in the film industry, giving 25 percent rebates plus other incentives to film companies to help cover their costs. According to Variety, the groundwork for building the industry was laid by former governor Gary Johnson, but Richardson took it on immediately upon entering office.
And he isn't shy about taking credit for it either, along with other industries as well:
"I'm an unusual kind of Democrat," Richardson told the magazine. "I am for tax incentives and tax cuts, and I did this not just for film, but we did it with renewable energy, we did it with manufacturing. That's why we're getting all these companies moving in here."
The film industries incentive package was the first of its kind, but is being copied around the country now. Some other states offer sweeter deals, Variety reports, but folks here aren't worried:
Richardson and his advisers adopt the philosophy that there's enough work to go around, relying on New Mexico's strong infrastructure and striking locations to attract such major productions as the "Indiana Jones," "Terminator" and "Transformers" sequels.... Earlier this month, Richardson and Witt traveled to Spain and France to court companies eager to take advantage of the weak dollar. Others, including a Bollywood musical that approached Hendry about shooting in the state, are proactively reaching out to New Mexico.
Variety also takes a look at the landscape of homegrown films, and says it's a work in progress. For instance, Karen Koch of Luminaria films, says New Mexico's loan program for films isn't geared to the "little local guys." But there are efforts to foster homegrown "above the line" talent, such as directors, producers, production designers, and directors of photography. For one, the 25 percent rebate is available to everyone, there are state-sponsored short-film competitions and awards, and a new mentorship arrangement on the Crash T.V. series seeks to provide local aspiring film makers with hands-on experience.
As it turns out, the state has big plans for smaller, independent film. Banking on that aspect of the film industry picking up steam, Richardson says he's nudging Robert Redford to look south:
"I'm trying to lure him to come establish a Sundance 2 in New Mexico," Gov. Bill Richardson says. "We've even purchased an old historic ranch in northern New Mexico for him to bring his seminars.
There's more, be sure to check it out.
Comments:
Posted 06/27/2008 15:02 with
Our incentives, more accurately, were not the first of it’s kind certainly. But for an important period they were/are certainly the “best” of it’s kind. But there’s a furious rush by many states to match and/or exceed.
For a clue, a Google search for “state by state filmmaking incentives,” will reveal an interesting array of states either looking at this or recently passing legislature, including Alaska. They all get it now. Or they will. NC, for example, did not pass a higher level of incentives last go ‘round and has paid a dear price. They had a lot of momentum cooking and it’s fallen off markedly.
On the other end, New York has gotten off its high horse and revamped its incentive program to much success. But the one to watch is Michigan, who decided to take a “no brainer, go for it all” approach to incentives that has produced many dividends, including a sick 40% cash rebate, among other things. BUT, much like NM a few years ago, they lack crew and soundstages, so there’s only so many who can take advantage.
Previously we were the only state (I believe) who dealt in hard cash (25%) back to prodco’s vs. tax incentives. As Sinatra said, the best revenge is cash. I think this is a trend you’ll see states adopt, but that’s a hard sell in some legislatures.
The Variety pieces reveal a softer, but equally important “incentive” about NM when they talk lifestyle, etc. No legislature in other states can write that in.
Interesting to note that as recently as May of this year, Variety did a fairly comprehensive story (http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=festivals&jump=st…) ranking the top five states and their incentives, ranking us second to Louisiana.
Regarding LA., its a rather awe inspiring story of how they came roaring back on film work following Katrina. Its rather amazing, to the point where they are well on track in ‘08 to break their record for productions in ‘07, which was a stunning success.
But overall, we’re in pretty good shape right now.