City, state approve Las Cruces movie film studio

“Let the movies begin,” Mayor Ken Miyagishima said as the Las Cruces City Council voted unanimously to approve almost $900,000 in funding for 828 Productions LLC, which plans to build a movie studio in Las Cruces.

The state is pledging $3 million in Local Economic Development Act (LEDA) funding for the project.

828 Productions has pledged to create 100 jobs with an average salary of $75,000 by the end of 2029, with a total investment of $75 million by the end of 2031 and $350 million invested in the project by Dec. 31, 2032.

“This is probably the most exciting thing I’ve seen happen to our town,” New Mexico State University film professor and filmmaker Rajeev “Raj” Nirmalakhandan said at the meeting. “We’ve seen hundreds of talented (film) students leave when they graduate,” Raj said. “Now, because of 828, they have the opportunity to stay here … and work as part of the film industry. They can get higher paid jobs. It’s going to have a far-reaching ripple effect within our local economy.”

Having 8282 in Las Cruces will also boost the local tourism economy, Raj said.

“When movies start getting made, people are going to see the Organ Mountains. They’re going to be like, ‘Where is this place? Where is this magical, mystical mountain range?’ They’re going to want to come here.”

“It’s all about making dreams come true and keeping kids here,” said state Sen. Jeff Steinborn, D-Doña Ana, who is president of the nonprofit Film Las Cruces.

Steinborn said the 2023 New Mexico Legislature, which adjourned March 18 after a 60-day budget session, passed legislation that, if signed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, will double the state’s rural film incentive from five to 10 percent. Steinborn said that means filmmakers who produce movies or television shows in Las Cruces or anywhere else in New Mexico outside of Bernalillo and Santa Fe counties, can receive up to a 40 percent rebate.

Steinborn also reminded city councilors that Las Cruces was recently named one of the top destinations in America by Moviemaker magazine to live and work as a filmmaker.

“That’s a huge accomplishment,” Steinborn said, and “a very prestigious list in the film industry.”

The city’s portion of the funding for 828 productions came from capital outlay funds secured by Steinborn and other legislators for film production in Las Cruces.

Local filmmaker Rob Dean is one of six people 828 Productions has already employed in Las Cruces, Dean said at the meeting.

A native New Mexican, Dean graduated from NMSU’s Creative Media Institute but then left Las Cruces to make films elsewhere.

“I came back because I love this place,” Dean said.

“We need to build our crew base,” Dean said. “For long-term sustainable growth, we need to plant roots here. We’ve got to build the industry from the inside out. The magic is in the people and the community that we’ve got here.”

When 828 Productions founder and CEO Todd Lundbohm announced last August that he would build a film studio in Las Cruces, he identified his conversations with Dean as one of the reasons he wanted to be in Las Cruces.

Lundbohm is planning to build a 300,000 square-foot studio on 35 acres of land just west of downtown Las Cruces. Phase one of the project is construction of four sound stages, the city said.

Lundbohm founded 828 Productions in 2019. It has financed 15 films to date, the city said, with a budget spend of more than $50 million.