New Mexico’s film industry makes Hollywood nervous

New Mexico’s aggressive courtship of the film industry has many in Hollywood nervous, the Los Angeles Times is reporting.

New Mexico has aggressively pursued the industry at a time when many in California are frustrated that its state government isn’t working hard enough to stay competitive.

“Unlike scores of states seeking film shoots that pack up and leave when they are finished, New Mexico is zeroing in on the nuts and bolts of Hollywood,” the Times reports. “By luring the support companies that form the bedrock of the Los Angeles entertainment economy, New Mexico aims to lay the foundation for a top-tier movie and TV production business.”

The state has seen some success: Sony Pictures Imageworks is planning to move more than 100 jobs from the Los Angeles area to Albuquerque. Star Waggons, which leases trailers at film shoots in California, is opening an office in Albuquerque. So are two other film-production companies, the Times reports.

And Lions Gate Entertainment is preparing to build a $15-million production center in Rio Rancho. That’s being done with a gift of 20 acres of land from the city and a $10-million loan from the state.

California isn’t offering such incentives, frustrating many in that state’s film industry. The Lions Gate facility “really hits at the heart of what we’re trying to keep,” Steve MacDonald, president of a nonprofit that coordinates film permitting in the Los Angeles area, told the Times.

“A decade ago, New Mexico couldn’t rustle up a film crew,” the article states. “Now it has about 1,300 workers, enough for five feature films.”

The article says production in New Mexico has jumped tenfold since 2004, generating a financial effect of $428 million last fiscal year.

The Times gives Gov. Bill Richardson most of the credit, pointing out that he pushed “one of the most generous tax rebate programs in the country” and has worked with the Legislature to provide other incentives.

The state says the program is operating in the black. Since 2003, it has received $50 million in tax revenue while paying out $33 million in incentives.

As far as I can tell, those figures don’t include local incentives like Rio Rancho’s land donation, but also don’t take into account the estimated financial effect.

New Mexico’s film and television business is a fraction of California’s, but the state now ranks in the top five in film activity in the nation, the Times reports.

“When a well-established company like Sony considers relocating or expanding into another area, that’s very concerning,” California Film Commission Director Amy Lemisch told the Times. “It’s a brick-and-mortar kind of business. The absence of financial incentives in California makes it easier for New Mexico and all other regions.”