Albuquerque and Santa Fe Again Top Moviemaker Magazine’s Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker

By DukeCityTimes.com on January 25, 2022 • ( Leave a comment )

January 25, 2022
SANTA FE, NM – Today MovieMaker Magazine named two New Mexico cities on their list of Best Places To Live and Work as a Moviemaker in 2022. For the fourth consecutive year in a row, Albuquerque is the #1 Best Place to Live and Work as a movie maker in the Big Cities category and Santa Fe was ranked #3 in the Small Cities and Towns category.
“It’s no surprise that New Mexico cities continue to top the list of the best places to be a filmmaker – New Mexico is the place to be for film and TV,” said New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. “Our work to support and expand New Mexico’s film infrastructure continues to yield real results: a booming industry that provides countless jobs and economic opportunity in communities across the state.

Filmmakers take note – New Mexico wants you!”

“Four times at No. 1 is astonishing, and it’s a testament to how much Albuquerque has exploded as a production hub,” MovieMaker Editor-in-Chief Tim Molloy says. “Big investments from Netflix and NBCUniversal have helped dramatically, and so have state and local officials who are proud ambassadors of Albuquerque and other gorgeous New Mexico locales from Santa Fe to Taos. Work opportunities abound in New Mexico, and the state is doing an impressive job of helping to train up more locals to join its highly professional crews. Albuquerque is a lovely, friendly, affordable, very livable city that offers a terrific work-life balance. Santa Fe is very commutable to Albuquerque and feels like a resort town that somehow also offers endless creative opportunities, while constantly refilling your sense of wonder. Together they form a film corridor unmatched anywhere. Both are accessible to mountains that can double as New Hampshire’s and desert landscapes that can double for Mars. The region has heart and beauty and a spirit of exploration you can’t find anywhere else on earth. And yes, Los Angeles is a short flight away, but maybe you can just convince that L.A. producer you’re meeting to move to New Mexico.”

CITIES1. Albuquerque, New Mexico2. Toronto, Canada3. Atlanta, Georgia4. Montreal, Canada5. Boston, Massachusetts

“Albuquerque is one of the fastest-growing high-tech, sustainable film production hubs in North America,” said Mayor Tim Keller. “The industry has grown here despite the challenges of the pandemic, creating jobs and opportunities in our community, bringing in new dollars to local businesses, and attracting new business, both inside and outside the creative sectors.”

SMALL CITIES AND TOWNS1. New Orleans, Louisiana2. Savannah, Georgia3. Santa Fe, New Mexico4. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania5. Tulsa, Oklahoma

In a joint statement from Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber and Santa Fe County Manager Katherine Miller, “Santa Fe continues to garner great recognition as a superb place to write, produce and make films. We have the people, the resources, and the community support to sustain an industry that continues to grow and flourish—and an industry that fits Santa Fe and contributes to our community. This is another honor that adds to Santa Fe’s bragging rights!”
“From state to local leaders, to business owners and local residents, New Mexico embraces and supports this thriving sector of our state’s economy.

We are pleased to not only see Albuquerque and Santa Fe topping MovieMaker Magazine’s Best Places to Live and Work as a MovieMaker, but maintaining their position as top places for filmmakers to call home,” said Alicia J. Keyes, Cabinet Secretary, Economic Development Department. “The industry offers multi-faceted benefits to our state including career paths for New Mexicans, serves as a tourism magnet, and provides revenue to local businesses. With full support from Governor Lujan Grisham we are continuing to build upon and elevate the ecosystem that New Mexico offers to the film and television industry.”

MovieMaker compiles its annual list based on surveys, production spending, tax incentives, additional research, and personal visits, whenever possible. .

“Thank you to MovieMaker Magazine for recognizing our great state as the place to be if you are in film and TV. Albuquerque has been ranked #1 for four consecutive years and Santa Fe has sustained a top 5 ranking for the past five years which is a testament to New Mexico’s status as a production hub,” said Amber Dodson, Director, New Mexico Film Office. “As we look toward a bright future in 2022 for the New Mexico film and television industry, we at the New Mexico Film Office are excited to continue to roll out workforce development programs that will quickly train up New Mexicans to meet the sustained demand for our world-class crew, while also providing quality well-paying career paths.”
For the complete 2022 list of Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker visit MovieMaker.com.