Jason Strykowski - A Guide to New Mexico Film Locations: From Billy the Kid to Breaking Bad and Beyond

A GUIDE TO NEW MEXICO FILM LOCATIONS

2021 by Jason Strykowski
All rights reserved. Published 2021
Printed in the United States of America

ISBN 978-0-8263-6297-1 (paper)

ISBN 978-0-8263-6298-8 (electronic)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021942365

Founded in 1889, the University of New Mexico sits on the traditional homelands of the Pueblo of Sandia. The original peoples of New MexicoPueblo, Navajo, and Apache since time immemorial have deep connections to the land and have made significant contributions to the broader community statewide. We honor the land itself and those who remain stewards of this land throughout the generations and also acknowledge our committed relationship to Indigenous peoples. We gratefully recognize our history.

COVER ILLUSTRATION : Highway near Santa Fe New Mexico

2018 Jim Ekstrand | istockphoto.com ; Rio Grande
Gorge Bridge 2021 Mindy Basinger Hill; White Sands
FiledIMAGE | istockphoto.com .

DESIGNED BY Mindy Basinger Hill

COMPOSED IN Chapparral Pro and Mr Eaves Mod OT

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Since the early days of film, New Mexico has hosted hundreds of productions. This book showcases the diverse locations used throughout the state, from the Bisti Badlands to the Old Main State Penitentiary.

New Mexico has been a desirable Western landscape since the early twentieth century. Films like Cowboy, Billy Jack, True Grit, Death Valley, and dozens of other titles used the spare desert for adventure and intrigue. That started to change in the 1960s with Lonely are the Brave. The film featured Kirk Douglas as an old cowboy shooing away modern society. It not only featured Western locations but also urban areas, including a stream of traffic on Route 66 near Albuquerque. The movie showed what modern-day producers see in New Mexico: unique landscapes like White Sands National Monument and Spaceport America as well as the downtown centers of Las Cruces, Las Vegas, Santa Fe, Madrid, Deming, and Albuquerque, home of the Breaking Badseries.

Today, New Mexico is at the cusp of a new century in film. With leadership from Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, New Mexicos film incentives are the most competitive in the United States. The state has welcomed production crews, actors, and other film crew with its ideal climate, which features more than three hundred days of sunshine.

Producers used to come to New Mexico because it fit the script. Today, they come for the year-round high-quality production environment, the many locations, and the professional studios and stages that can suit any story.

Alicia J. KeyesCABINET SECRETARY / NEW MEXICO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

SITE LOCATIONS

Santa Fe Plaza and Downtown Santa Fe

Santa Fe Like a Film Local

Old Main State Penitentiary

El Rancho de las Golondrinas

Bonanza Creek Ranch

W. Eaves Movie Ranch

Cerrillos

Madrid