By Kiera Hay
Journal Staff Writer
SANTA FE— With a résumé that includes the films "Ray," "An Officer and a Gentleman" and "Devil's Advocate," one could assume director and producer Taylor Hackford knows what he's talking about when he says New Mexico is "on the radar in a major way" when it comes to film production.
Hackford, in a recent interview with the Journal, praised New Mexico, along with Louisiana, as a leader among the states when it comes to luring hit makers from Hollywood.
"There's no question that those two states are at the forefront of all the incentives and are reaping the benefits," said Hackford, who is married to Academy Award winner Helen Mirren.
Since its implementation in 2002, New Mexico's film incentive program has attracted more than 80 film and television projects to the Land of Enchantment and injected about $1.2 billion into the state's economy, according to the New Mexico Film Office.
Movie and television productions are coveted because they generate dollars and jobs with relatively little damage to the environment. New Mexico's program, implemented in 2002, includes loans, training and tax breaks.
While the state may be considered a leader— the executive director of Tennessee's film commission told the Journal that New Mexico's film incentive program was the best designed in the country— others have jumped on the bandwagon. The Land of Enchantment has fought to stay competitive by offering packages that currently include:
A 25 percent rebate on all direct production expenditures taxable by the state of New Mexico, including food, vehicles, lodging, lumber and materials, editing and other costs of movie making.
Interest-free production loans.
A 50 percent wage reimbursement program for on-the-job training of state residents in advanced below-the-line, or technical, crew positions.
Zero state sales tax for productions, which works by having the buyer present a state-issued certificate during a transaction, exempting the purchase from gross receipts tax. This can't be used in conjunction with the 25-percent rebate incentive.
"I see a really well-conceived and executed long and short-term program to develop it as an industry, not as a Band-aid" Perry Gibson, executive director of the Tennessee Film, Entertainment & Music Commission, said of the program.
It was film incentives in Louisiana that helped get production of the 2004 Ray Charles biography "Ray" off the ground, said Hackford, who was in Santa Fe late last month to speak at a conference held by the Association of Film Commissioners International, an event hosted by the New Mexico Film Office.
Hackford said he spent 13 years trying to get financing for "Ray," which he directed and produced, eventually finding one backer who pieced together $30 million. The only problem, Hackford said, was that he needed $35 million.
Louisiana had just started its film incentive program, and state officials said they would give the production $3.9 million in tax credits. With that offer secure, Hackford's financier agreed to kick in another $1 million, and "Ray" was set.
The movie probably wouldn't have been produced otherwise, Hackford said.
"The incentives in Louisiana made it happen, and I'm sure there are films in New Mexico that are happening the same way," he said.
For decades, Canada has offered various film incentive programs of which the entertainment industry has taken advantage, he noted.
Hackford also had praise for the new, $74 million Albuquerque Studios, which he visited during his trip to New Mexico. The film and television production facility, which opened a few months ago near the Albuquerque International Sunport, has six sound stages totaling 168,000 square feet.
"Those are world-class stages," Hackford said.
Others appear to share the sentiment. A slew of movies will be shot at the facility in coming months, including "Game," an action flick starring Gerard Butler of "300" fame, and "The Spirit," starring Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson.
Other movies set for Land of Enchantment production include "The Appaloosa," with Renée Zellweger, which will film scenes in the Santa Fe area starting Oct. 1, and "Five Dollars a Day" with Christopher Walken.
And released this week is the Lions Gate filmed-in-New Mexico Western "3:10 to Yuma," starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale.
"It's nonpolluting, creative," Gibson said of the industry. "It's sort of the future, and we all want to be part of the future."
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