Getting beyond ‘silos’ in NM film, tourism

New Mexico Business Weekly - It was interesting to hear Don Gray say New Mexico is missing a huge opportunity by not leveraging its success in the film industry into more tourism dollars. I wrote about Gray’s presentation at the Governor’s Conference on Tourism in Taos in the Business Weekly’s May 25 print edition. He is the locations coordinator for the New Mexico Film Office. Since I cover both industries, I’ve wondered why there isn’t more cross-fertilization. I tell people constantly that a film or TV show was shot in New Mexico. They usually had no idea. As Gray pointed out, we all know “Lord of the Rings” was shot in New Zealand because New Zealand worked hard to get that message out. I have heard the theme of “silos” come up often in regard to New Mexico, most recently at the Coronado Ventures Forum session on mobile app development. Before that, it was a theme in a study by the University of New Mexico’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research on the economic impact of the arts and cultural industries in Bernalillo County. The gist of these discussions was that silos — when industries operate in isolation — curtail the sharing of ideas across industries, sectors and individuals, which will kill innovation. New Mexico can’t afford that. Read More News New Mexico

Getting beyond ‘silos’ in NM film, tourism