Studios, Screens, and Street Smarts in Albuquerque
Albuquerque video production is racing toward Halloween with fresh festival dates, studio rollouts and a few key roadblocks crews can’t ignore. Here’s what matters between Oct 15 and Oct 29.
Festival & Event Highlights
- Dark Red Film Festival (Oct 24-26) brings 40 indie horror shorts to the Historic Lobo Theater, plus nightly filmmaker mixers that attract distributors from Austin and L.A.
- Rocky Horror 4K Screening caps the Albuquerque Film & Music Experience on Oct 29, turning Central Ave. into a costume-lined B-roll opportunity.
Permit & Traffic Alerts
- Route 11/Lomas detour: Westbound lanes shut Oct 13-14; eastbound lanes close Oct 15-17 for utility work, delaying access to Uptown and Expo NM.
- Day of the Tread cycling tour rolls through Sawmill Market Oct 25-26, prompting rolling closures on 20th St., Mountain Rd. and Rio Grande Blvd.; plan alternate picture-car routes.
Studio Expansion & Virtual Production
Halflife* Digital finished a $1 million LED-volume retrofit in Nob Hill, offering a 12 × 20 ft wall and 4K control room ideal for commercial spots. Farther south, LA Castle Studios’ new 30,000-sq-ft facility at Mesa del Sol adds a 42-ft curved LED stage, motion-tracked camera rigs and on-site post—Albuquerque’s largest virtual-production space to date.
Casting Calls & Industry Workshops
Fox’s The Cleaning Lady Season 4 continues principal photography across Downtown alleys and the Sunport back lot, hiring stand-ins and 200+ extras through late October. Netflix and Stagecoach Foundation co-host an all-day “Acting for the Camera” intensive on Oct 25 at The Bridge, giving emerging actors on-set etiquette training and self-tape critiques. Commercial boards list a “Stronger America” PSA paying $3,000 for a one-day shoot before Oct 20.
Incentives & Permitting Snapshot
The Albuquerque Film Office still waives application fees for basic street and park permits filed at least 48 hours in advance; productions needing traffic control must add APD-officer overtime to budgets. New Mexico’s 25–35 % refundable credit remains uncapped for qualifying spends, and Mesa del Sol’s LED stages qualify for the 5 % uplift on hinterland facilities.
Closing Take
Festival crowds, Netflix workshops, and fresh LED capacity make the next fortnight prime time for content capture—if call sheets dodge Lomas utility digs and Day of the Tread cyclists. Albuquerque camera crew and production teams should lock permits early and book virtual stages before they sell out. Do that, and Albuquerque will reward your hustle with desert light and blockbuster-grade tech.
