New Mexico film subsidies remain a boondoggle…but we just opened a $73 million taxpayer funded film school

Several item related to New Mexico’s film industry which continues to struggle (as it does nationally). President Trump recently expressed support for federal financial support for new Hollywood film subsidies at the federal level. That’s a terrible idea in our book given the chart below and the fact that Washington is $40 trillion in debt.

Meanwhile, an Albuquerque Journal article that discusses a purported turnaround in the industry states that film spending in the U.S. saw a 37% drop between 2022 and 2025. That has impacted New Mexico’s heavily-subsidized film industry.

New Mexico, always there to throw money at yesterday’s “next big thing,” recently saw the opening of a $73 million taxpayer funded film training facility in Albuquerque.

The following chart, in fact, highlights how film subsidies are terrible investments (the data being reported is from New Mexico’s LFC and non-partisan analyses in other states). New Mexico reported a -86% return on investment.

Sadly, New Mexico’s political leadership is more than happy to pour money into the film industry regardless of losses (see below) or the deteriorating economic impact of the film industry.