New Mexico filmmaker returns to NMSU to teach what he has learned

By Mike Cook

Las Cruces Bulletin

Las Cruces native Keagan Karnes has been a successful filmmaker in Albuquerque since graduating from New Mexico State University in 2013. This spring, he’s teaching an online class for NMSU’s Creative Media Institute to share some of the knowledge and experience he has gained during the past 10 years.

In his class, the Business of Film, Karnes will discuss “how the industry functions in the 21^st century,” he said, to help prepare students entering a rapidly changing film market to become successful both as artists and as businesspeople.

“It’s going to be awesome,” Karnes said. “I’m excited.”

One of Karnes’ presenters during the semester will be his new business partner, Richard Farmer, who has more than 20 years of experience as an award-winning film, commercial and music-video director.

The two teamed up in 2021 to create Inspirado, “a multi-disciplinary content creation company” that they also hope will be a launching pad “to elevate New Mexico filmmakers,” Karnes said.

The state is known mostly for the crew members it supplies to work on films made in New Mexico. Karnes and Farmer would like to see more “above-the-line talent” – including New Mexico actors and directors – in movies that are made in the state and all over.  

“We’ve got to stop the brain drain,” Karnes said.

“Right now, we are at the beginning of a golden age of filmmaking in New Mexico and Inspirado was created to lead the way by showcasing the region’s top talent to the world,” Farmer said on www.inspirado.tv.

“We want to create a foundation for people who want to stay in their home state and join us,” said Farmer, who has won multiple MTV Video Music Awards and directed commercials for Ikea, Bic, Coca Cola, Bacardi, Skittles, Brawny, Playstation, Bud Light and Gillette.

“New York and LA are kind of over,” he said. They are “very crowded with a lot of noise.”

In New Mexico, he said, “you can kind of focus. You meet great people. It bodes well for creativity. People are measuring their quality of life, and also ‘How can I be a better filmmaker and live with my family and have a great life?’ New Mexico is magical for that,” Farmer said.

Karnes said he is “ecstatic about the success of Las Cruces” as a filmmaking destination. Four major films were shot in Las Cruces and Mesilla in the latter half of 2021, bringing stars like Mel Gibson, Bruce Willis, Ryan Phillippe and Kate Bosworth to town.

“I just couldn’t be happier,” said Karnes, who singled out Las Cruces Film Liaison Jonathon Sepp for praise.

“He comes from a production background,” Karnes said of Sepp. “He knows what these movies need.”

Karnes and Sepp attended the media magnet program at Sierra Middle School together, along with the media program at Las Cruces High School and CMI at NMSU.

And, because film studios in Albuquerque and Santa Fe “are filling up,” Karnes said, there will be even more opportunities for Las Cruces as a destination for filmmakers.

Karnes said he never thought of himself as a teacher, but knows it was a very fulfilling career for his mother, Sharon Karnes, who taught for 29 years at Hillrise Elementary School in Las Cruces.

“Going back to my alma mater is such a cool feeling,” Karnes said. “I had an exceptional experience at CMI. I got the standard great education that you would expect out of a top-tier state film school,” he said. The instructors “inspired us to go create. They were very hands on with us.”

Karnes said he got to make a lot of short films at CMI and gained “a mix of film and classical instruction that prepared me to go out and work right way. To be asked to be an instructor among everyone there is a big honor – those are all my mentors. To feel like I’m a colleague of theirs is just so exciting. It’s cool to be a part of the CMI family.”