New Mexico Economic Development Secretary Alicia J. Keyes will be in Northeast New Mexico this week for two events that are open to the public, the press, and local officials.
A film screening is set for 7 p.m. on Wednesday Aug. 21 at the Historic Luna Theater in Clayton. The other event is a major grant announcement regarding the U.S. 64 Scenic Byway, 10 a.m. on Thursday Aug. 22 at the Cimarron Plaza on U.S. 64 across from the Cimarron Inn.
“It’s always a great time to visit Northeast New Mexico and we hope improvements in the Scenic Byway and the Historic Luna Theater will help us build the economies of these communities and create more jobs,” said Keyes. “This is a great week to come out and celebrate these accomplishments.”
The film screening of “The Space Between Us” is part of a new initiative by Keyes and The New Mexico Film Office to bring movies to some of the Historic theaters that have been refurbished and reopened as part of the Historic Theaters Initiative. Production of the film took place in Albuquerque, Belen, Santa Fe, and Truth or Consequences with Principal photography at Spaceport America.
The romantic adventure drama will be shown Wednesday, Aug. 21 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Luna Theater: 4 Main St, Clayton, New Mexico 88415. Please RSVP here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-space-between-us-film-screening-tickets-68164346395
“The Film Office outreach is part of a new effort to engage rural communities in the industry to showcase these areas and help build support for an industry that can highlight unique landscapes in all corners of the state,” said Todd Christensen, Director of the New Mexico Film Office.
Christensen said the state is seeing more interest in rural film locations since a new Film and Television Incentives measure became law on July 1. It offers an extra 5 percent tax rebate for filming outside the Santa Fe-Albuquerque corridor.
The grant announcement is part of the New Mexico MainStreet and New Mexico Resiliency Alliance Resilient Communities Grant Fund that will support the U.S. 64 Scenic Byway Project. The press conference and announcement is set for 10 a.m. Aug 22 at the Cimarron Plaza. The Plaza is on Highway 64, directly in front of the Cimarron Inn right in the middle of town. There’s no street address, but The Plaza has free standing historical markers.
The New Mexico Historic Theaters Initiative is part of an ongoing statewide effort led by the Economic Development Department and New Mexico MainStreet to rehabilitate historic theaters and install new digital projection and sound equipment to prevent them from "going dark."
Nationwide, many small town theaters have closed their doors because of the high cost of digital projection equipment. Besides loss of a business anchor in downtown districts, the loss of an entertainment venue has negative impacts on quality of life, retail leakage and community morale.
The initiative has restored 8 theaters around New Mexico: Alamogordo, Clayton, Clovis, Gallup, Lovington, Raton, Silver City and Tucumcari.