MovieMaker

The Best Places to Live and Work as a Filmmaker in 2025

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1. SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO 

Yes: Albuquerque is our top big city, and nearby Santa Fe leads our list of the top Smaller Cities and Towns. Santa Fe is a bit more expensive than Albuquerque — and the average U.S. city — but that’s pretty much its only drawback. It’s far more affordable than Los Angeles or New York City, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find another location with a better ratio of population — it has just 90,000 residents— to film and TV industry spend. The home of Oppenheimer has also recently hosted projects including The Lost Bus, Opus, Ransom Canyon, Eddington, Trap House, and Killing Faith. And the AMC series Dark Windsshoots in the Tesuque Pueblo’s Camel Rock Studios, a former casino converted into an Indigenous-owned film powerhouse. Other top-notch facilities in the region include Santa Fe Studios, with two 20,000 square-foot soundstages, and the indoor/outdoor offerings include the sprawling Bonanza Creek Ranch. Then there’s the tax credit of up to 35%. We recently attended the Santa Fe International Film Festival and were very impressed by the energy and optimism of local New Mexico filmmakers, as well as the low-key influence of the town’s many high-profile residents: Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin, for example. co-owns, with Magnolia Pictures founder Bill Banowsky, the Sky Railway train line, used in Oppenheimer, and owns the repertory-focused Jean Cocteau Cinema. The quality of life is also quite high: you’re surrounded by art and natural beauty, from mountains to deserts, and Santa Fe is a foodie paradise. As we mentioned in our Albuquerque entry, you can easily fly to Los Angeles for meetings. It tops our Smaller City section on the list of the Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker for the third consecutive year.

By Tim Molloy