Plans are moving forward for the construction of a massive movie production facility in Las Cruces that will go up near Amador Avenue.
The project belongs to the company 828 Productions, originally based in southern California as a boutique film financing and lending company, and will see the building of a 300,000-square-foot production complex that will include a sound stage, studio, and back lot.
After months of talks, the New Mexico Economic Development Department announced it was contributing $3 million to the project in the form of Local Economic Development Act funding, with the City of Las Cruces originally kicking in another nearly $900,000.
Las Cruces’ contribution has recently been increased to a significant $2.8 million for the project, funding secured through the city’s gross receipts tax revenue.
At the time of the state funding announcement, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham noted that New Mexico is “seeing a record number of productions from the film and television industry,” adding that state officials were “extremely excited to welcome 828 Productions to Las Cruces.”
In the months since that announced, the company, establishing its headquarters in Las Cruces, has purchased three structures in the city for its work: One measuring 7,000 square feet; the second, nearly 10,000 square feet; and the third, measuring 30,000 square feet.
In a presentation made before the Las Cruces City Council late last month, Jonathan Sepp, public affairs manager for 828 Productions, remarked that the company is “not just here making a movie or building a sound stage. We’re really here to build, develop, and establish an industry in Las Cruces.”
According to city documents, the company has thus far financed 15 films, amounting to total expenditures of more than $50 million.
By Garry Boulard
