New Mexico’s Rural Areas Support the Film Industry

iStock/ericfoltz

New Mexico has long been a haven for filmmakers, offering spectacular views, hardworking communities and tax incentives that allow film productions of all budget levels to get their feet off the ground. 

In addition to the longstanding film hubs of Albuquerque and Santa Fe, the Land of Enchantment’s rural areas provide unique resources of their own. For these communities, bringing a film to town is an exciting and memorable experience of which they can be proud. 

iStock/krblokhin

Film History 

New Mexico’s film history stretches back to the 1800s, when the Edison Co. and director James H. White shot a 50-second documentary short titled Indian Day School in Isleta Pueblo. The film sparked a long history of New Mexico film productions including massive tentpole features like The Avengers, beloved television series Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, and sweeping historical dramas like Oppenheimer. 

“The film industry has just been growing ever since,” says Adrian Gomez, outreach program coordinator for the New Mexico Film Office. 

The New Mexico Film Office was the first of its kind established in the U.S. Founded in 1968, it is the longest-running film commission in the country. Today, the New Mexico Film Office’s goal is to keep New Mexicans working. With a database of 60,000 crew members of all disciplines, the state is continually production-ready. 

“We’re a crew that’s world-class,” Gomez says. 

CLAIRE FOLGER

Rural Resources 

Film productions have touched every corner of the state, from the metropolitan to the rural. Filled with small, historic towns and a rich cultural history, New Mexico offers a range of landscapes and resources for film productions to explore. To help connect filmmakers with communities across the state, the New Mexico Film Office established a Film Liaison Network that includes representatives in counties, municipalities and pueblos across the state. 

“The film liaisons are our eyes on the ground,” Gomez says. 

For Jeff Padilla of Rio Arriba County, serving as a film liaison means using his background in the film industry to help connect filmmakers with the resources they need. Whether picking up breakfast burritos from a cousin’s store or helping source a diesel generator, Padilla and other liaisons are ready and willing to help. 

Courtesy of Film New Mexico

“I wanted to just offer my knowledge of the film industry and of Northern New Mexico where I was born and raised for free to my community to help spur economic development,” Padilla says. 

Rio Arriba County is home to historic communities like Chama, whose unique blend of Mexican, Spanish and Native American culture – along with the beautiful Rio Chama, Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad, and the Rocky Mountains – make this area a unique treasure. 

Films like Robert Redford’s The Milagro Beanfield War, comedy Tortilla Heaven and Showtime series The Curse feature Rio Arriba County’s natural beauty while creating memorable experiences for locals who still talk about their time as extras or crew members on the films. 

“There are beautiful places throughout Rio Arriba County to film that may fit into your storyline,” Padilla says. 

Other rural areas from Gallup to Socorro have welcomed productions of all sizes throughout the years. In the south, film liaisons helped turn downtown Truth or Consequences into the town of Eddington for Ari Aster’s thriller Eddington. The Very Large Array – a radio astronomy observatory outside of Socorro – was the ideal location for the sci-fi classic Contact. Further north, Gallup’s central location off iconic Route 66 and the historic El Rancho Hotel have made it a hub for Hollywood greats like John Wayne, Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn and, more recently, parts of the AMC series Dark Winds. 

“It truly is magic how it all comes together,” Gomez says. 

iStock/Maisna

An Independent Future 

With a “no minimum spend” on film productions and up to 40% tax incentives in areas outside the Albuquerque and Santa Fe zones, filmmakers of all levels have more reason than ever to take advantage of what the state has to offer. As the industry experiences fluctuations in cost and technology, New Mexico strives to create a space for students and independent filmmakers to hone their craft. 

“The future of the film industry is going to lean heavily on independent productions,” Padilla says. 

“Tentpoles will come and go as they have always done, but I think it’s independent filmmaking and people like that who keep the film industry going,” Gomez says. 

From the red rocks and dense forests of the north to the deserts of the south, movie magic waits to be ignited in the Land of Enchantment. 

©Journal Communications/Jeff Adkins