An economic impact study commissioned by the New Mexico Film Office found the film industry directly spent $2.6 billion in the state over the past four years.
Including indirect and induced spending — i.e., household spending by film employees — the film office said, the industry yields a $7.77 return on every $1 in state tax credits offered to film productions.
The film industry directly employs an estimated 3,572 people at a median wage of $35.51 per hour, according to Olsberg-SPI, which calculated a 2023 update of its 2021 Economic Impact of the New Mexico Film Production Tax Credit report.
The report comes a little before the start of the 2024 legislative session, and as some lawmakers, including Senate Finance Committee Chairman George Muñoz, D-Gallup, have been questioning the value of the program and calling for increased oversight.
The state offers a 25% film production tax credit with an additional 10% offered to productions more than 60 miles from Santa Fe and Albuquerque.
“When asked how much of their productions would have happened in New Mexico without the incentive, the median response [from film production companies]was that there would be no production without the incentive and all production companies based out of New Mexico responded zero to this question,” the report stated. “The mean response was that 8% of production would have happened without the incentive.”
