Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Filmmakers Have Eye on Downtown RR

By Rosalie Rayburn
Journal Staff Writer
      Filmmakers are again looking at building a high-tech studio in Rio Rancho's new downtown.
    Hollywood movie producer Elliott Lewitt is part of a film group interested in creating a multifaceted digital media center that would bring high-paying jobs to the city.
    City Councilor Michael Williams has drafted a resolution calling for the council to authorize city staff to negotiate with City of Vision Studios to craft an incentive package for the proposed center. The council will vote on the resolution Wednesday.
    Williams said the center, along with the Hewlett Packard technical support center planned for the downtown area that Gov. Richardson's office announced last week, would stimulate momentum for new business activity in Rio Rancho's downtown.
    “This could act as an economic catalyst for the development of the City Center,” Williams said in a phone interview Monday.
    City of Vision Studios has asked the city to set aside up to 14 acres of city land in the downtown area where it wants to build a campus-style media center. The center would produce digital music, movie special effects and medical imaging and store data, Joseph Cordova, the group's agent, told the Journal in a phone interview Monday.
    Williams said the resolution does not authorize the city to give the land to City of Vision Studios. It would merely prevent the land from being sold to someone else while the group finalizes its plans.
    Cordova said the group estimates the center would create between 600 and 1,000 jobs paying more than $60,000 per year and bring in $80 million in gross receipts taxes over 10 years.
    Cordova was a Rio Rancho city councilor from 1992 to 1998. He now has a consulting business.
    Rio Rancho has shown hospitality to moviemakers before. In mid-2006, the City Council approved an incentive package to help Lionsgate build a $15 million film studio in the downtown area.
    The city agreed to give the company 20 acres valued at more than $1 million and front another $1 million for the company to buy an additional 32 acres. In return, Lionsgate was to build the studio within two years. Lionsgate has yet to break ground. Mayor Thomas Swisstack said he is in contact with Lionsgate and expects to meet with company officials within “two or three weeks.”
    Williams said his resolution would allow city staff to begin negotiations on an economic development package with City of Vision. Any participation by the city would be contingent upon the group providing proof it has secured financing for the project, Williams said.
    Lewitt and the other group principals, who include Debra Rosen, a former film commissioner for South Carolina, are talking to potential investors, Cordova said.
    Lewitt's credits as a producer include the 2004 movie “Around the Bend,” starring Christopher Walken and Michael Caine, which was filmed in New Mexico.
    Approving the resolution would send a signal to the potential investors that Rio Rancho is serious about attracting business, Swisstack said in a phone interview Monday.
    If councilors approve, City of Vision hopes to establish a preliminary base in Rio Rancho within six weeks, Cordova said.
    City of Vision would work closely with media programs run by the University of New Mexico and Central New Mexico Community College, which plan to build a campus in the downtown area. The group would also establish a digital media training academy on its own campus, Cordova said.
    The group envisions building the center in two phases. It has asked the city to make available seven acres per phase. The center would be a 24-hour operation where employees would live close to their work, Cordova said.
   

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