Full-service film and production company 828 Productions has chosen Las Cruces for its headquarters, with plans in motion to open a film production studio in the near future.
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Over the next six years, California-based 828 Productions plans to invest $75 million to build a 300,000-square-foot studio and 20-acre back lot, creating at least 100 high-paying jobs in Las Cruces.
The firm began ramping up its production efforts in May 2022, filling key positions and purchasing a 7,500-square foot office building in downtown Las Cruces for training, post-production, and visual effects work.
The state of New Mexico will pledge $3 million to the project from the Local Economic Development Act (LEDA) job creation fund as the company meets its job target of at least 100 full-time year-round employees.
828 has finalized negotiations on an additional 35 acres of land in downtown Las Cruces, with existing structures that will provide soundstage and set construction space.
The film company intends to shoot its first production in the new Las Cruces Studio before the end of 2022 and spend $350 million on productions over the next decade.
828 Productions is a full-service film finance and production company, whose recent films include: K. Asher Levin’s dark millennial comedy “Helen’s Dead,” Robert Rippberger’s haunted house thriller “Those Who Walk Away,” Deauville Film Festival Grand Special Prize Nominee “The Last Son,” Camille Delmarre’s high-octane action film “Assassin Club,” “The Price We Pay,” “Raven’s Hollow,” “Operation Seawolf,” “The Requin,” and SXSW Grand Jury Prize winner “The Fallout.”
The creation of 828 Studios comes as Las Cruces is seeing a surge of filming activity, hosting Netflix and major studio and independent productions featuring well-known actors including Clint Eastwood, Mel Gibson, Bruce Willis, Kate Bosworth, Ving Rhames, and Ryan Phillippe.
Las Cruces is included in New Mexico’s “uplift” film incentive area, providing film productions an extra 5% film rebate for filming there, for a total potential incentive of 35%. The incentive resulted in a 650% increase in direct spending in rural areas of the state last year.
Pending city council approval, the City of Las Cruces would be the fiscal agent for the economic assistance. ■
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