After a year of a downturn from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Santa Fe film industry is back to pre-pandemic levels.
Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber made film and media an essential business last fall so productions were able to start back up.
"The Santa Fe Film Office, jointly funded by city and county, has brought in about half a billion dollars into the Santa Fe region since our conception, so since 2016-2017," Commissioner of the Santa Fe Film Office Jen LaBar-Tapia said during a Zoom meeting. "It's a big number and that is money that is brought into our economy and stays here. (Our film program) is designed to be a benefit for our community for the people that live here."
Mario Lopez just finished filming a Lifetime Christmas moving in Santa Fe and the CW television series regularly films there. Santa Fe doubles as a substitute for the Middle East, Wyoming, Montana and California. It also is favored by filmmakers shooting westerns.
"I've got 35 productions on my production board right now and that is productions that are either here, coming here or scheduled to be here in 2022. So Santa Fe's already booked through 2022."
According to a report from Ernst & Young, every $10 million spent in the region on filmmaking generates over $150,000 in local taxes. The 2012 report also stated that a $10 million film has the potential to generate an additional 100,000 visitors, an additional $34 million in spending, over 300 direct and indirect jobs, and $1.2 million in additional state and local taxes.
"We have been on track to have a record-breaking year this year," LaBar-Tapia said.
The State of New Mexico offers a 25% to 30% film tax credit to production crews that shoot in the state.
"We've got a heck of a film community here. We've got actors, writers, producers, directors people who do finance, people who are, you know, Academy Award winners, people who are producers of amazing documentaries," LaBar-Tapia said. "We're not exactly off the radar screen when it comes to a talent pool. We've got an amazing group of folks who are artists of their own skillset... That's what makes Santa Fe an amazing place. It is a community with remarkable skills and a deep deep commitment to art and culture and performance."
For more information on the Santa Fe Film Office, click here, or go here for the New Mexico Film Office.
