Better Call Saul is a Breaking Bad spin-off that fans are eagerly waiting to hit television. This series will star Bob Odenkirk who played the ambitious small-time lawyer Saul Goodman in the hit AMC Show. While the spin-off is expected to be another hit, there's another Walter White product that is reaping fruits, the city of Albuquerque.
In an interview with news website MIC, the New Mexico city's Film Office said that they are positive that the place will be an in demand place for movies and TV series wanting to find great backdrop for their works. One official said that Albuquerque's rise in film industry isn't just because of the Breaking Bad effect but also because of the authorities' effort to invest and build facilities that will satisfy filmmakers. In fact, New Mexico passed a law called Breaking Bad Bill which aims to increase subsidies for television crews from 25% to 30%.
"Albuquerque can double for many different places," Ann Lerner, a staff member at the Albuquerque Film Office, told MIC.
"Right now I'm downtown - downtown right? - but I can see the desert from my window, and if I turned the other way and there was a hole in the wall, I could see a mountain that rises 10,600 feet."
While other states may offer more comprehensive or attractive tax breaks and returns for film crews, Lerner said New Mexico was the first to introduce initiatives for production teams. In 2002, the first incentives for production teams were introduced in New Mexico by then-Gov. Gary Johnson, followed by incentives in Louisiana.
The tourism component of this new Hollywood status is being embraced whole-heartedly in Albuquerque. Other cities have not as readily embraced cult TV shows - like Baltimore and The Wire - as generators of tourism; but Albuquerque continues to host multiple tours based on locations from Breaking Bad, which sell out in minutes. One takes place in a version of the RV meth lab from the AMC show. Another, the ABQ Trolley Co., offers tours with snippets of multiple productions filmed in the city.
Aside from Breaking Bad, notable shows that were filmed in Albuquerque are Transcendence, Lone Survivor, The Avengers, and the Fright Night.
