Both city and state funding has been secured for the building of a new movie studio in Las Cruces that is being seen as one more indication of a growing film industry in New Mexico’s second largest city.
The project belongs to 828 Productions, which was founded four years ago and has already seen to completion more than a dozen film productions.
Members of the Las Cruces City Council have voted to commit just under $900,000 to the project, funding that will be joined with $3 million earlier awarded through the New Mexico Economic Development Department.
The $3 million comes in the form of a Local Economic Development Act grant.
Located at 106 S. Miranda Street, 828 Productions is billed as a full-service film production and financing company who motto is “We Help People Tell Their Stories.”
The funding for 828 Production’s new facilities comes as Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has signed legislation allowing New Mexico to increase over time the amount of money it spends on tax incentives for film production work in the state.
The annual incentive packages officially offered by the state will now increase from $110 million to $160 million.
828 Productions has said that it wants to build a 300,000 square foot studio facility in the 900 block of West Amador Avenue just to the west of the city that will also include a 20-acre backlot. Phase one of the project will see the construction of four sound stages.
Formerly headquartered in Glendale, California, the company purchased a 7,500 square foot building in downtown Las Cruces in the spring of 2022 to be used for training and post-production purposes.
By Garry Boulard
