MovieMaker

The Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker in 2026

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  1. SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO 

Santa Fe is a quiet getaway for many Hollywood luminaries who like the privacy they’re granted in this arts-focused town of under 100,000. They get to avoid the Los Angeles and New York City crowds, but still benefit from an impressive industry presence. In recent months Santa Fe has welcomed productions including AMC’s Dark Winds, Netflix’s Ransom Canyon, Amazon’s Joseph of Egypt and Apple’s The Lost Bus, starring Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera. Santa Fe’s unflappable film commissioner, Jennifer LaBar-Tapia, can look out at the town’s rooftops and tell you the story of seemingly every downtown building. She’s also happy to tell you where to get a helicopter or trained buffalo for your production. If Santa Fe doesn’t have what you need, she’ll happily point you toward a community that does, whether its Albuquerque, Las Cruces, or Las Vegas (the one in New Mexico). But the odds are good that Santa Fe has it. In addition to the Bonanza Creek and the Mortenson’s Eaves movie ranches, it offers two 19,125-square foot sound stages at Santa Fe Studios, and northern New Mexico’s largest studio space, Aspect Media Village, which has six soundstages totaling 75,000 square feet, as well as apartments, office space, yoga, electric car charging, and more. Santa Fe’s costs are above the national average, but so is the quality of life: Locals love the endless hiking trails, skiing, and countless options for foodies. The Oscar-qualifying Santa Fe International Film Festival unifies the New Mexico film scene each year by bringing together both international award contenders and locally rooted indies, including many from Indigenous filmmakers. You can spend your free time riding the Sky Railway train line featured in Oppenheimer, watching new and classic films at the Jean Cocteau Cinema, or browsing the aisles at Beastly Books, all of which are owned by locally based Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin. The Sky Railway is co-owned by Bill Banowsky, an entrepreneur and filmmaker who also owns the Sky Cinemas, including a new state-of-the-art location at Aspect Media Village. And you’re already aware of the New Mexico tax incentives from our Albuquerque and Las Cruces entries, but let’s mention the ones specific to Santa Fe: Productions are eligible for up to 35% in refundable tax credits within the town. This is Santa Fe’s fourth consecutive year at the top of our list of Smaller Cities and Towns on our list of the Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker.

by Tim Molloy