D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
March 2010
New Mexico Academy Awards
Page: 2
Recent years have seen debate and several conflicting studies about New Mexico's film incentive program. Filmmakers benefit by skipping gross-receipts taxes and a 25% tax rebate for production expenditures. Albuquerque was ranked the number-one place to shoot a film by MovieMaker Magazine.
For the last three years, lawmakers in Santa Fe have introduced bills to limit the incentive program, with this year's measure dying in the Labor and Human Resources Committee by a 5-2 vote. If passed as written, the state would have had to cap the production expenditures at $2 million. Predictably, most of the bills are introduced by legislators whose areas see little if any of this cash cow; as a recent column in the Farmington Daily Herald asked, "What about us?" Rep. Dennis Kintigh from Roswell maintained that film incentives cost the state more than $80 million last year.
One study, by accounting firm Ernst and Young, showed that 30 films in New Mexico in 2007 generated more than $250 million in spending. But another study, from NMSU of all places, concluded the state nets less than 15 cents for every dollar spent on the film industry.
Political infighting aside, the film industry remains robust in parts of New Mexico. Five films are in production right now, all in Albuquerque and points north. Seven other productions have just wrapped up their filming in New Mexico, including one, Due Date, that was in Las Cruces for a few days for some second-unit shooting. It's doubtful that film crew will ever return here, due to the overwhelming amount of grousing about the traffic snafus the crew created during its short time here.
One of the most interesting shoots taking place up north is the remake of True Grit by the Oscar-winning filmmaking brothers, Ethan and Joel Coen, who were last here to shoot the magnificent No Country for Old Men. They have returned with the Oscar-nominated Jeff Bridges and Oscar-winner Matt Damon to bring new life to the only film for which John Wayne ever won an Academy Award.
With the film due to release this December, one can only ponder what the Duke would say if he were asked to make a film in southern New Mexico.
Perhaps he'd say, "That'll be the day."
(In the 1956 movie, The Searchers, John Wayne used that phrase several times, and the noted Buddy Holly song of the same name and era is said to have been inspired by the uttering.)
Despite his overwhelming workload for Desert Exposure, Jeff Berg finds time to write film reviews for two other publications and the occasional movie-related piece for other publications as well. He coordinates the Saturday CineMatinee series at the Fountain Theatre in Mesilla.
| And the Oscar Goes to: Film fanatic Jeff Berg's unscientific Academy Awards predictions: BEST PICTURE What will win: Up in the Air What should win: The Hurt Locker (actually, my pick is Whatever
Works, but it wasn't nominated) BEST ACTOR Who will win: Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart) Who should win: George Clooney (Up in the Air) BEST ACTRESS Who will win: Meryl Streep (Julie and Julia) Who should win: Gabourey Sidibe (Precious) BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM What will win: The White Ribbon What should win: Well, the others haven't really been released in the US yet,
but White Ribbon will be a tough one to beat. BEST DIRECTOR Who will win: James Cameron (Avatar) Who should win: Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) |