Kevin's Watch

Production is moving to New Mexico, where a local newspaper has dubbed it "Tamalewood."

"New Mexico is definitely a major player now," said Steve McDonald of Film LA. "They've really been really aggressive in providing tax incentives, loans and financing."

He said New Mexico is Hollywood's most serious threat.

There was a resurgence of feature films in Hollywood in 2004-05 after a seven-year decline. But 2006 saw another drop, about 8 percent. Feature film production dropped nearly 40 percent in the last 10 years.

New Mexico's feature film production quadrupled in just four years.

"I understand there are nine feature films being done in New Mexico this week," said McDonald.

Eric Witt from the New Mexico Film Office spoke with NBC4.

"We'll never be a Los Angeles, that's just not going to happen here," Witt said.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, now a presidential candidate, rolled out the red carpet for filmmakers, even using Hollywood-style Westerns in his campaign advertisements.

Money and location are two factors that attract filmmakers to New Mexico. It is only a 90-minute flight from Los Angeles and among the states that offer big tax breaks to filmmakers.

The state offers a 25-percent rebate and multi-million dollar loans are available. Shooting permits are inexpensive.

"We've said this from the beginning, that we've never been in competition with Los Angeles for film production," Witt said. "The market that we went after aggressively has been runway projects."

New Mexico is doing other things to lure more filmmakers. The Albuquerque Studios is an eight-soundstage lot.

"There residents here, and the elected officials and policymakers, should be worrying about it because every production that leaves California means that we are having people who are not working here that would be otherwise."