The Albuquerque Journal ran a story Friday morning regarding the state of New Mexico’s 25% rebate on in-state expenditures for the film industry. It seems that a total of just 85 film rebate applications adding up to only $19.2 million were approved during the fiscal year that ended June 30, according to the Taxation and Revenue Department. That figure is down more than 67% from the 2011 fiscal year total. Journal writer Dan Boyd quoted Senator John Sapien of Corrales in explaining the dramatic drop off, “What we did by capping the film credit is scare off business.”
Director Stephen Griffin |
News New Mexico spoke to Stephen Griffin Friday morning. Griffin is the director of the New Mexico-based feature film, Roswell FM. Griffin and his film crew shot the feature comedy on location last summer in Roswell and the New Mexico-based film company applied for the film rebate in November of 2011.
“We were told when we applied to expect a check from Santa Fe within 60-90 days,” Griffin said. “We are a small company and we were counting on the New Mexico rebate to help us fund a portion of the post-production costs by the end of February,” he explained.
Roswell FM: Don Stark, Brendan Fehr, Mirelly Taylor, Jason London |
When asked how long it finally took the state rebate check to arrive Griffin shrugged his shoulders. “We still don’t have the rebate," he said. "It’s been more than a year since we starting shooting the film and nearly eight months since we filed,” he explained. "Now when we try to check we are simply told it is in the system," he said. When we asked Griffin what sort of impact the delay was having on the project he shrugged again. “It has made it virtually impossible to budget,” he admitted.
This story of the glacial pace of processing film rebate applications sheds a new light on the range of reasons why there has been a big plunge in filming in the state.
KLEN station logo from Roswell FM |
If the Roswell FM experience is not just an isolated incident, perhaps the word has gotten out on New Mexico within the film industry. Could it be that it is starting to become common knowledge that New Mexico’s bureaucracy in Santa Fe is completely incapable of delivering in a timely fashion on its film rebate commitments? Are filmmakers who must fulfill their own commitments in a timely fashion taking their business elsewhere?
FULL DISCLOSURE - Jim Spence owns an interest in Roswell FM LLC.