Film Subsidies Paying Off in Good Publicity

Last week I blogged an article I wrote for the Tribune about the generous subsidies being given to the film industry for them to set up shop in New Mexico. Now, I’m sure that part of the reason our political leaders have targeted the film industry is to burnish New Mexico’s credentials as a tourist destination and remind people that we really are part of the good ole’ US of A.
Needless to say, it was quite a shock to the system when I picked up today’s Albuquerque Journal and read that not one, but two Hollywood stars ripped into Albuquerque after having filmed here. Jessica Alba, the star of a new film called The Eye said in a recent interview: “In Albuquerque there’s really only one restaurant that’s pretty good. You can only take Applebee’s and Chili’s so much. Our big day was hanging out at Walmart for five hours. It was like, “Yeah, Walmart!”
Adding insult to injury, Tommy Lee Jones, the star of not one but two films that were shot in Albuquerque, dissed the town, saying “Albuquerque is a really hard place to work. It’s very noisy. There are crows there, planes, trucks, people working on their cars. It’s just a noisy place to shoot.”
As if scary aliens weren’t a big enough reason to stay away from the Land of Enchantment, now Alba and Jones make Albuquerque out to be a noisy little hick town with nothing but Wal Mart’s and Chilis. Publicity like that is priceless. Me, I’d rather save our tax money and let entrepreneurs decide what our city and state should be known for.