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Top 10 Cities to Make Movies 2007
MM's seventh annual countdown of the 10 best cities to live, work and make movies in 2007
(Page 3)
4. Albuquerque, NM
Last year: Unranked
“The Little Town That Could”
With a moderate climate, 310 days of sunshine, the Class-A $74 million Albuquerque Studios (which will be completed by April, 2007 and will include eight huge soundstages) and 13 features and TV shows produced in 2006 alone—not counting the numerous low-budget movies filmed within the city’s limits—Albuquerque has become a moviemaking hotspot in recent years; the industry has had an economic impact of more than $85 million in the past year alone.
A large part of that astounding figure is due to the unbeatable incentives that Albuquerque offers its moviemakers. New Mexico provides a 25 percent tax rebate on all production expenditures (including New Mexico labor) and a gross receipts tax deduction, which gives moviemakers up to a six percent deduction on a variety of production items and costs. But what really puts Albuquerque over the top is its Film Investment Loan Program, which promises up to $15 million per project for qualifying feature films or television shows (the film’s budget must be at least $1 million).
“The state film incentives in Albuquerque are the finest in the United States,” offers Nick Smerigan, vice president of Albuquerque Studios. “Not only do they offer tax incentives and rebates, they also offer a $15 million film and television finance program. They are really, really aggressive and put together a plan that I think pretty much designed itself around all of the needs that a production would have in order to go someplace to film. This is not a place where you would normally go, ‘I can’t wait to shoot here in Albuquerque!’ But when we started to check and see what those incentives were and what they meant to the clients—that they would draw productions, not only feature films but television, to the area, that’s when we started to look seriously at building a facility here.”
Based primarily on his great experience working with Ann Lerner, Albuquerque’s film liaison, on previous projects, producer D. Scott Lumpkin brought his most recent film, Fanboys, to Albuquerque. “First and foremost, it is the service—the support system that the film office provides” explains Lumpkin. “But it also helps that Albuquerque doesn’t really look like the rest of the world thinks New Mexico should look.”
“Our motto here in Albuquerque is: On location since 1706,” says Lerner. “We can double for a variety of locations, from Victorian to urban to downtown to modern day and southwestern. In Beerfest we doubled for Munich and Colorado; in Wild Hogs, they shot for two and a half weeks in Albuquerque as Cincinnati; In ‘The Lost Room’ we doubled for Pittsburgh and other locations.”
While the variety of landscapes and locations that Albuquerque has to offer is indeed a major factor in choosing to shoot here, Smerigan believes that it is the city’s dogged determination that has really made moviemakers take notice.
“The people here are really interested in having a film industry, therefore they work on the issues that bring the industry here,” notes Smerigan. “One of the things that we spoke about was the crew situation—training crews and everything else like that. The University of New Mexico, which was going to build a film school, met with a major animation company—the major animation company in the world—and they’re now going to become a part of that film school. UNM is going to go from zero to the finest film school in the world. The kids that are coming out of the film schools everywhere else have to apply for a job somewhere whereas the animation guys who are going to be teaching UNM students are going to say, ‘Okay, you’re in your third year here. We need you to come in and do Spider-Man 58 or Shrek 36.’” With so much experience, technology and expertise at their fingertips, Albuquerque moviemakers are quickly becoming a major force in the film industry.
Recent Films: Save Me, Beerfest, No Country For Old Men, Fanboys, Employee of the Month
Albuquerque On Film: 21 Grams, Every Which Way But Loose, The Muppet Movie
Film Festivals: The Duke City Shootout, Experiments in Cinema, Sin Fronteras Film Festival, Independent Indigenous Film Festival, Local Shorts Film Festival
Film Education: University of New Mexico, Central New Mexico Film Technicians’ Training Program
Contact: Albuquerque Film Office
P.O. Box 1293
Albuquerque, NM 87103
505/768-3283
www.cabq.gov/film
5. Las Vegas, NV
Last year: Unranked
“Home of the Free—and the Brave”
Paris may lay claim to the lights and New York is the city that never sleeps, but Las Vegas, with its flickering neon and lucky charms on every corner, is undoubtedly the city of free. Offering free government permits, no extraneous taxes, fees or charges and free scouting and location photography through the city film office, Las Vegas strives to be one of the most cost-effective (and welcoming) places in the country for indie moviemakers.
“Las Vegas—unlike many locales—cannot be faked or duplicated elsewhere,” declares Jeanne D. Corcoran, production manager for the Nevada Film Office’s publicity department. “It is a completely unique brand and its built-in ambiance beats trying to get the feel with a set. To quote [producer] Jerry Weintraub, ‘Where else can you find $100 billion worth of sets for free?’
“Many fees, taxes and other charges that a production incurs in other jurisdictions are not charged in Nevada, in effect saving the production 100 percent of those fees and charges,” continues Corcoran. “We’ve had productions tell us that they consider that a 100 percent rebate incentive when they don’t have to pay certain fees and taxes to begin with, and when they also don’t have to jump through bureaucratic hoops and compile mountains of red tape and paperwork to get just a portion of those monies spent back.”
In 2006, Las Vegas was home to over 61 feature films, among them Curtis Hanson’s Lucky You, Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s 13, Judd Apatow’s Knocked Up and Sean Penn’s Into the Wild. But don’t let the big Hollywood names throw you—Las Vegas is extremely indie-friendly. In fact, the majority of the films made in Sin City are independent features, with a community of local moviemakers that prides itself on its rebellious spirit.
Writer-director Mike Conway moved to Las Vegas from Anaheim, California in search of what he calls “a guerilla perspective.” “You would think that California would be the place to go—and it is for a lot of people, especially if they want to work for someone else,” explains Conway. “But for an action filmmaker like myself, I find that the gun laws (stage firing props, like Collector’s Armoury pistols, for example, can’t be sold there), tough street and location restrictions and overall population density make it hard for an indie to shoot certain things.”
In an effort to work together with like-minded moviemakers, Conway organized the Las Vegas IndieMeet, held over Memorial Day weekend in Conway’s own home, which is now in its third year. The Meet attracts a variety of independent moviemakers and guest speakers from all over the country and also receives support from the film office. Conway sees all of this as just another way for Las Vegas to promote independent film production and its unique locations and keep its moviemaking population constantly growing.
“Except for an experience with a city complaint against a 64-foot long spaceship set in my backyard,” says Conway, “I rarely get hassled. I have utilized the surrounding desert, including Red Rock Canyon, as well as the forest on Mount Charleston [in my films]. The lure to me is having the benefits of a large city that is still easy to get out of and into secluded surrounding areas. [In Anaheim], that was next to impossible to do.”
Recent Films: Ocean’s 13, Knocked Up, Lucky You, The Great Buck Howard
Las Vegas On Film: Swingers, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Cooler, Go
Film Festivals: CineVegas Film Festival, CCSN Digital Filmmakers Showcase, Vegas Underground Film Festival
Film Education: University of Nevada, Community College of Southern Nevada, Art Institute of Las Vegas
Film Organizations: Las Vegas Underground Film Group, Underground Vegas Film
Contact: Nevada Film Office
555 E. Washington Ave., Suite 5400
Las Vegas, NV 89101
877/638-3456
www.nevadafilm.com
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This story was published in the Winter 2007 MovieMaker Magazine. The headline was:
MovieMaker's Top 10 Movie Cities '07
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