Las Cruces, New Mexico is expanding its fast-rising film scene — and looking for a high-profile partner for its brand-new facility, the New Mexico Media Arts Collective.
Just named for the third time to our annual list of the Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker, New Mexico’s second-largest city offers some of the best tax incentives in the world, in a state that brought in $740 million in film spending in the latest fiscal year. New Mexico is also riding high on the success of last year’s Best Picture winner, Oppenheimer, which shot around Santa Fe.
In the spring, the New Mexico Media Arts Collective will break ground at New Mexico State University’s Arrowhead Park, with plans to open at the end of the year. The $15 million, 20-acre facility, with a purpose-built soundstage and other facilities, has issued a request for proposals from prospective partners who would benefit from a 40% refundable tax credit, among other incentives.
“I think that’s going to be a catalytic future project for the region,” says state Sen. Jeff Steinborn, who helped establish the economic development organization Film Las Cruces.
Albuquerque and nearby Santa Fe, the No. 1 big city and No. 1 town on our list of the Best Places, each offer a 30% rebate for film and TV projects. But there’s an additional 10% uplift for shooting outside the Albuquerque and Santa film corridor, and Las Cruces productions are among the biggest beneficiaries.
In addition to the 40% refund, the partner in the New Mexico Media Arts Collective would be eligible for special above-the-line incentives for productions filmed at the facility. And an extra 15 acres are available for the partner to build more stages or other facilities, with the state expected to cover some of the costs, Steinborn says.
Interested parties — whether a streamer, a studio, or any other kind of creative company — can contact Wayne Savage at [email protected] or call (575) 646 2596. Savage is the executive director of Arrowhead Park at New Mexico State University.
The Rise of Las Cruces
For those not familiar with Las Cruces, the southern New Mexico city is 45 minutes from El Paso, another rising film hub, which sits along the U.S.-Mexican border. Located at the edge of the Chihuahuan Desert, below the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, it is just 50 miles from the global tourist destination White Sands National Park.
Its locations range from desert and mountain vistas to ranches to military bases to urban locales. The region’s year-round sunny skies and diverse geography have made it a popular spot for filmmakers, and recent projects have included Joe’s College Road Trip, starring and directed by Tyler Perry, and “Summer Machine,” a short film from Santa Fe resident — and Games of Thrones mastermind — George R. R. Martin.
Past films shot in the area include Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic and Clint Eastwood’s The Mule, as well as countless Westerns, horror films, and indies.
Steinborn, a land conservationist in addition to Democratic lawmaker, was serving on the New Mexico House of Representatives tax committee when he began to notice Albuquerque and Santa Fe reaping the benefits of New Mexico’s “Breaking Bad Bill,” which was signed in 2013 after the success of the hit AMC series to encourage further TV and film production in the state.
“I saw just how vibrant the film industry was in northern New Mexico with studio executives and actors, and they brought out all the red carpet. And I realized, in Las Cruces, we have all these amazing things — great locations, great weather, a big service sector, lots of hotel rooms — and we just need to put it together.”
He pressed for the a regional film development advisory committee, which, at the city’s request, became Film Las Cruces. It is led by film liaison Andrew Jara, himself an independent filmmaker.
Steinborn finds it very easy to make the case for Las Cruces as a filming location.
“We have one of the best film incentives in the world — at 40% it’s hard to top that anywhere in America. We have lots of experienced crew, great year-round weather, a diversity of looks — anything from an urban, modern look to Old Mexico and Palm Springs and all points in between,” he notes.
But Hollywood productions also tend to be impressed by the feel of Las Cruces.
“One of the things that surprises people here is just how cool and chill Las Cruces is,” he says. “And they sometimes say we’re like the old Hollywood, but I think we’re kind of a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed newer film town, and so very enthusiastic, eager, and accommodating of films. And we also have a very savvy film office that’s aggressive in getting permits quickly, and a government that supports filming.
“And so we really have a can-do attitude here and make things happen for films, which is what they need. They need streamlined permitting quick turn times and and a partner that will really solve problems to help get films made.”
New Mexico also offers a fairly unique program to train local residents for the entertainment industry: The Film Crew Advancement Program, implemented in 2004, is an on-the-job training program that provides a 50% reimbursement of qualified participants’ wages. So the partner in the New Mexico Media Arts Collective could potentially pay some below-the-line half of their wages, with the state covering the other half.
More on the New Mexico Media Arts Collective
February 20 is the cutoff date for applications to partner in the facility. The partnership would include, at a baseline, a commitment to lease the studio space.
“I think that baseline is at a much, much more affordable base rate than you would have to pay if you were going to rent a studio off the street, or you were a major production trying to rent a purpose-built, beautiful, brand new soundstage facility.”
For more information on filming in Las Cruces, Film Las Cruces can be reached at (575) 805-3456 and www.filmlascruces.com.
Main image: A recycled road runner sculpture overlooks Las Cruces. Courtesy Visit Las Cruces.
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