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Sunday, October 25, 2009
A Film Truce in Ranchos?
By Dan Mayfield
Of the Journal
Larry Abraham had enough of the late-night phone calls, the complaints and the grief he got because of moviemaking.
As the mayor of the village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, Abraham has heard all the complaints from residents of the North Valley community — from blocked roads to excessive noise to late-night shoots lighting up the sky. It was too much.
To hear Abraham tell it — as he did at the first meeting of the village of Los Ranchos Film Task Force last week — film crews have ruined his quaint little village.
"These are real people with real concerns," Abraham told the task force and a few village residents. "There's an American dream and an American nightmare there."
The village became New Mexico's first to ban film crews within its picturesque limits because of the complaints. The ban was adopted last year.
While the film industry is seen as a statewide economic engine, bringing in $3 billion to the state's economy since 2003 and creating 10,000 jobs, it's a hot-button issue.
Especially in Los Ranchos.
But it looks like the village could be ready to compromise. Maybe.
The task force will try to find a way to let some film productions use the village as a location, but also find a way that it won't negatively affect the residents.
It's going to be tough work.
Tempers flared at last week's meeting. One resident threatened to take any new rules allowing filming to court. Others expressed concerns about safety and inconveniences. Still others, though, said they've been working in the village for years making films and TV commercials without a peep from neighbors.
"We're trying to decide if we want the movie industry in town, and, if so, what do we do to make it work? It's taking care of people that own land in the village that we have to consider," task force Chairman Hap Crawford said.
The village isn't the only spot in New Mexico having difficulties with flim crews. Las Vegas drafted a new resolution earlier this year that will make filming in the town difficult. Some neighborhoods in Albuquerque and Santa Fe have also had issues with film crews.
Most of the problems in Los Ranchos stem from one house being used for several years for filming of the TV show "Wildfire." Crews were at the home so often, neighbors had enough and were the first to call for the moratorium. The owners of the house challenged the village's ban on filming in court earlier this year — and lost.
Regardless, several at the meeting pointed out that using the village's palatial estates for movie sets isn't the issue. It's the overuse of some homes, the demands the crews put on neighbors, the late-night noise and the congestion.
By contrast, several towns and villages in southern and northern New Mexico are rolling out the red carpet for films, embracing film crews with parades. When a film goes to somewhere like Carrizozo, for example, it's a huge boon to the town. Crews come in and stay in the hotels, eat at the local restaurants, and buy what they need at the local stores.
Los Ranchos's main source of tax income is from a narrow strip of North Fourth Street, where there are no hotels and the busiest restaurant is a JB's. Some folks have made thousands by renting out their homes to film crews as sets. But, unless a film crew can outfit itself from AutoZone and Walgreens, the village doesn't see much of a benefit.
Still, film producer Dave Roberts of Southwest Productions said he's quietly made TV commercials in the village for years and hopes the community can find a way for his, and other smaller production companies, to keep doing business there.
"People need to understand there's big and small things," he said. "We've been doing this since the late '80s and shooting in the village since 1991."
He's made commercials for brands like Pur Water Filters and Hill's Science Diet pet food and used village locations.
Most times, he said, his company can sneak in with a small crew and a small truck and be gone in three days. The ban has cut access to some of his favorite locations.
"They equate our business with the feature business or the episodic film business, and it hurts our business," he said.
A best-case compromise could simply limit the outsized or the time-consuming projects. However, if some residents have their say, things will stay the same, and film crews will remain banned.
The next meeting of the film task force will be at the Village Office, 6718 Rio Grande Blvd. NW, at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3. Visit www.losranchosnm.gov for more information.
Casting call
The new film "Let Me In" is looking to cast children ages 8 to 18. The new film may not be for children when it's released, but it's about children. The story follows a bullied boy who befriends a young female vampire who secretly lives with her creepy guardian. "Let Me In" is an English remake of the Swedish film "Let The Right One In" and is directed by Matt Reeves, who directed last year's hit "Cloverfield."
Contact Elizabeth Gabel at www.egcasting.com or call 967-9533 for more information on the casting call.
Another casting call
Albuquerque must have some beautifully sick people. A few months ago, the company that makes the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor filmed a commercial here, and now the production is back for a second one. The commercials for the drug feature real people, not actors, who use Lipitor. The national ad is looking for men, ages 50-65, who are taking Lipitor. Contact casting director Kathryn Brink at kbrinkcasting@aol.com or call 266-6211.
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