The Mutual Benefit of Local Business and Production Crews in New Mexico

A lot of new production is happening in New Mexico, which was the home to shows like "Breaking Bad" and "Better Call Saul" and now houses shows like "Godless" and "Preacher."

Production in a central area is good for the area's local economy. The New Mexico Film Office has announced that in 2017, film and television production crews directly spent about $506 million. People relocate to the area when filming is happening (if they don't live there already) and then the demand for businesses like grocery stores, gyms, salons, etc rises. The state is hoping that this continues as they encourage both the filmmaking industry and businesses in the area.

Barbara Kerford, who works for the New Mexico Film Office as a state outreach coordinator, advocates for using local businesses when production is going on. The film office keeps a free online industry directory of businesses in the area that they send to production crews if they need something.

This weekend will see the New Mexico Film and Media Industry Conference, which will bring in about 400 filmmaking professionals. Kerford is calling for local businesses to become vendors and sponsors of the conference, to get their name out there and meet production crews. This event is a great way to bring local businesses and the film community together, so each of them, as well as the state, can benefit.