State goes head to head with NM over film bucks.
Louisiana's known for gators, gumbo and voodoo. But for the past few years the home of Mardi Gras has been linked to a phenomenon much more fitting of California-Hollywood. In 2002, Louisiana knocked out a film incentive package that saw production companies flocking south. The result was surreal. Suddenly the swamp was the new center of the film industry, generating both national and international envy.
During the time Louisiana has reigned over Tinseltown, however, New Mexico has utilized legislation to make its own bid for the film industry crown. And with the governor's recent signing of bills that will let the State double the amount it invests in films from $7.5 million to $15 million, New Mexico is arguably in the position to usurp the cinematic throne from Louisiana.
"Our analysis shows that we now have the best film package in the country," Rorie Hanrahan, spokeswoman for New Mexico's Economic Development Office, says. In addition to doubling the funds the State can invest in any one movie, the bills address the State's workforce training program in film. "We're up to 3 1/2 crews that are currently trained in New Mexico and work at any given time," Charles Wollmann, State Investment Council spokesman, says. House Bill 517 seeks to keep the film workforce growing. Other legislation expands the tax rebates New Mexico-based production companies can receive. "It will help us to continue to grow our film industry," Hanrahan says.
Louisiana offers three tax-related incentives. They include an investor tax credit, an employment tax credit and a sales tax exemption. Alex Schott, director of the Governor's Office for Film and Television Development in Louisiana, says the incentives have created an industry in the state that exceeded everyone's expectations. When Louisiana began its venture into film it generated $20 million. Last year the state yielded $300 million in film production. Compared to New Mexico, it's easy to see what a stronghold Louisiana has on the film industry. According to Gov. Richardson, the 26 films that have been made in the state during his tenure have generated $200 million.
Schott says he doesn't view New Mexico as competition. He cites incentives as the reason the states are often juxtaposed in discussions of the industry. "We're always mentioned in the same breath because of our enticing incentive programs." Unlike New Mexico, however, Louisiana doesn't finance films or have plans to expand or add to its existing film incentives. This may be one reason Hanrahan feels New Mexico is poised to monopolize the film industry. Of the nine films to which the State has provided interest-free loans, this past February
Blind Horizon
became the first to repay its loan of $4.78 million, according to Wollmann. And because the film was recently released on DVD, Wollmann expects the film to be the first New Mexico profits from.
While Wollmann declined to say that New Mexico is the state to beat when it comes to the film industry, he does feel that neighboring states can't compete against the Land of Enchantment. "Regionally I don't think anyone stacks up against us," he says. "We have everything that every other state has." Except the oceans of California or the swamps of Louisiana, Wollman jokes. To boot, what New Mexico has to offer landscape-wise may not be unique, as West Texas and Arizona have similar settings.
With pending legislation that resembles what Louisiana currently offers in film incentives, Arizona may emerge as New Mexico's regional film rival. "In a way we are competitors," Harry Tate, director of the Arizona Department of Commerce Film Office, admits. But overall Tate says that his state and others have a common patriotic goal. "We have a shared interest to stop runaway productions, to keep productions domestic and not overseas," he says.
