The Hollywood Reporter - 06.11.2019

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THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 114 NOVEMBER 6, 2019

CAMINO

: BEN ROTHSTEIN/NETFLIX. CHRISTENSEN: MATHEW IMAGING/COURTESY OF SUBJECT.

Event

Preview

the state. How did the legislators

sell them on New Mexico?

Netflix came in toward the end of

the last administration and the

beginning of the new one. Then

NBCUniversal became a

partner as well. The part-

nerships mean that they

have to spend X amount

of money every year and

create X number of jobs

— and they are also not part of

the $110 million. They’re separate

from that pot of money. What it

says is, “Come in and be a partner.

Make New Mexico a bigger film

location than it is now. Let us

grow with you.”

What has New Mexico done to

capitalize on Georgia’s vulnerabil-

ity in the wake of its controversial

abortion legislation?

We welcome people with open

arms. With their decisions to

leave those places [because of] the

draconian laws that were being

put in place, my point of view

was, “Come to New Mexico. Make

your film here.” They don’t have to

change any of the dialogue; some

of the settings they can change.

We have a lot more diverse loca-

tions than most people realize.

Which projects have specifically

relocated from Georgia?

I don’t think it’s important to say

which ones came here. What’s

important is they did come here.

Any projects you can share that

have shot in the state recently?

News of the World and Bios, both

starring Tom Hanks. Tom must

love New Mexico.

Interview edited for length

and clarity.

New Mexico Plots

Life After Breaking Bad

The state’s new film

commissioner on boosting

incentives, Netflix cash

and the Georgia backlash

By Bryn Elise Sandberg

I

n states’ increasingly

competitive bid for film

and television productions,

New Mexico has emerged as a

formidable contender. Among its

victories: Netflix’s acquisition of

Albuquerque Studios, where it

plans to spend more than $1 bil-

lion on production over the next

10 years, and NBCUniversal’s sep-

arate in-state studio investment,

through which it plans to shell

out $500 million over the same

period. Appointed by Democratic

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to

the post of state film director

earlier this year, former locations

manager Todd Christensen, 70,

will be tasked with keeping the

Southwestern state a top film-

ing destination. Christensen’s

efforts will be helped by newly

passed legislation that raises the

amount New Mexico can pay out

to qualifying productions from

$50 million to $110 million a year,

as well as $225 million to pay

down an accumulated backlog in

incentives. Christensen spoke to

THR about his new role, the back-

lash against Georgia and Breaking

Bad’s mark on New Mexico.

What’s been the impact of the

state’s new filming legislation?

What it did is it removed the

$50 million rolling cap. So they

got rid of that and they put a

$110 million cap in. What the roll-

ing capital produced was a huge

backlog in production companies

not being paid. It was going

to take years, because that

was the law. And, well, it

was done in an administra-

tion that I believe didn’t care

about filming. So when that

backlog was understood more

clearly, what they did was bril-

liant. They got the money in that

legislation to pay off the backlog.

Is there a project that’s done more

for New Mexico than Breaking Bad?

It’s wild. And now there’s a

Breaking Bad tour. I love it.

What’s on the Breaking Bad tour?

I haven’t really been on it, but it

goes to the locations where they

filmed. I have friends from L.A.

who would come out and visit me

at different times over the

years, and they’d say, “How

can we see the Breaking Bad

locations?” And back then

I’d go, “I don’t know, I’ll

call the location manager.”

And then the Breaking Bad tour

opened up and they just drive

them around to all the familiar

locations.

Netflix and NBCUniversal have set

up expansive production hubs in

Location

Expo

Nov. 9-12

Santa Monica

NEW MEXICO SHOOTING INCENTIVES: BY THE NUMBERS

30%

Refundable

tax credit

on qualifying

TV projects

5%

Bump to

film in

rural areas

20

Number of

movies that

shot in

New Mexico

in September

25%

Refundable

tax credit on

film projects

$110M

New annual

cap as of

newly passed

legislation

in 2019

16

Number of

TV shows

that shot in

New Mexico

in September

Christensen

↑ Aaron Paul (left) and Jesse Plemons in El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie.