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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR W K Martinez
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
2/15/2007
HB 953
SHORT TITLE NMSU Grants Film Technician Development
SB
ANALYST McOlash
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY07
FY08
$50.0
Recurring
General Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Relates to SB 375, SB 525, and SB 757
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
New Mexico State University – Grants (NMSU – Grants)
Higher education Department (HED)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
House Bill 953 appropriates $50,000 from the General Fund to the NMSU Regents for
expenditure in FY 2008 to support continued program development at NMSU – Grants for
training film technicians, including purchase of equipment, supplies and film and providing
stipends for industry mentors to train students.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of $50,000 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the General Fund.
Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY 2008 shall revert to the
General Fund.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
The goal of NMSU-Grants Digital Film Technology training program, in collaboration with
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House Bill 953 – Page
2
PAH-Fest (Project Accessible Hollywood), is to create a rural New Mexico training program to
develop crews for the film industry where none currently exists. NMSU-Grants (NMSU-G)
Digital Film Technology Certificate program was developed with assistance from Ears XXI, a
digital film company founded by California filmmaker Christopher Coppola. NMSU-Grants and
Ears XXI’s film training incorporates educational goals which include helping students discover
the artistic and technical aspects of digital technology and working with students to create films
for international distribution.
As part of this educational outreach, Ears XXI created PAH-Fest and a digital film festival held
for the first time in summer of 2006. Initial funding for this start-up training initiative was
provided by NMSU-Grants via existing institutional resources, volunteer efforts of lead faculty
Doug Bocaz-Larson and $35,000 in state funding in 2006.
This request was not submitted by NMSU-Grants to the HED for review and is not included in
the Department’s funding recommendation for FY08.
CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP
SB 375 – appropriates $50,000 to the Cultural Affairs Department for an American Indian Arts
summer film and television workshop.
SB 459 – appropriates $250,000 to the NMSU Regents to create a virtual film school in the
Creative Media Institute for the Office of Distance Education at NMSU.
SB 525 – creates a sub-cabinet Media Arts and Entertainment Department Act in the Executive
Branch to consolidate state functions to develop media arts in the entertainment industry in the
state.
SB 757 – appropriates $700,000 to the UNM Regents for the Film and Digital Media Program.
SB 758 – appropriates $500,000 to the Economic development Department to support film and
media employment training and students productions.
Several New Mexico higher education institutions have already implemented film programs that
are working together to produce both “above the line" and “below the line" trained staff. "Above
the line" staffs are the creative talent, writers, directors, and producers. "Below the line" staffs
are for technical and film studio crews
The following New Mexico public higher education institutions have film programs available:
.
Central New Mexico Community College (CNM)
.
Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU)
.
Eastern New Mexico University - Ruidoso
.
New Mexico State University (NMSU)
.
Santa Fe Community College (SFCC)
.
University of New Mexico (UNM)
NMSU has created the Creative Media Institute (CMI) which teaches all aspects of the
filmmaking from the technician skills to creating digital animation.
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House Bill 953 – Page
3
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
Thirty-seven percent (37%) of the NMSU-Grants students are Native American and thirty-three
percent (33%) are Hispanic. The service area, Cibola County, includes four (4) tribal
communities (Laguna, Acoma, parts of Zuni and parts of the Navajo Nation) and a large
Hispanic student population.
A unique aspect of the NMSU-Grants program is the pairing of NMSU-Grants students with
local New Mexican professional film mentors to work on film projects created by the students.
The film mentors provide students an understanding of expectations/critique of the film industry
and in turn become a source of networking to film industry.
The industry partnership with EARSXXI to create a local film festival (PAH-Fest) produced in
Grants provides NMSU-Grants students hands on experience with film crews as well as builds
economic activity for the Cibola County region, drawing in potential interest in the region from
filmmakers for base operations and movie locations.
BM/nt