ABQ Castle Studios, Albuquerque
Film Production Financing in New Mexico
Qualified spend at our Albuquerque studio can earn New Mexico's 30% refundable credit, plus production financing for select pictures we back.
- New Mexico Qualified Production Facility
- One of the largest virtual production stages in the world
- Sets built or adapted for your picture
- Local New Mexico crew available to hire
How the 30% New Mexico credit works →
Or call 818-934-3775 Burbank 818-861-7317 Albuquerque
Productions that have trusted us
The networks, the streamers and the studios have all shot here.
Hart to Heart, Aquaman 2, Inventing Anna, Bosch, The Mummy, Greenland, Deadliest Catch and national spots for T-Mobile, Amazon and Domino's. Full credit list
What's included
What a picture gets at the Albuquerque studio.
- A New Mexico Qualified Production Facility (QPF) in a Class A environment
- New Mexico's 30% refundable credit on qualified in-state spend: the 25% base credit plus the 5% QPF uplift
- Cast, crew, post-production and catering spent in New Mexico count toward the credit as qualified expenses
- Investor-backed financing before shoot day for select productions, in exchange for a share of the picture
- Financing can cover the studio, cinema cameras, the sets for the picture, lighting, grip, audio, dressing rooms and the prop and furniture warehouse
- The virtual system operator who runs the sets, included in every rental
- Sets built new by our in-house artists or adapted from sets we already have, quoted with the production
- Local New Mexico crew and department heads available to hire, so qualified spend stays in state
- One of the largest virtual production stages in the world, about ten minutes from the Albuquerque Sunport
Watch the reel
The Albuquerque studio, and pictures made at our studios.
Click any clip to play it with sound.
Check availability
Tell us about the picture and where it stands.
Tell us the format and your dates. A producer replies with availability and a quote.
- Sets built new or adapted from ones we already have, quoted with the production
- Qualified spend at our Albuquerque studio can earn New Mexico’s 30% refundable film credit
- Financing is reviewed picture by picture, at our sole discretion
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818-861-7317 · Albuquerque
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Film production financing in New Mexico, in plain terms
A production that shoots at ABQ Castle Studios in Albuquerque can stack two things. The first is New Mexico’s 30% refundable film credit on qualified in-state spend, which every eligible production can earn here. The second is investor-backed production financing, which we offer to a limited number of pictures we choose to back.
The studio itself is a virtual production studio. Your location is a photoreal virtual set that appears around your talent live, in camera, on our stage, and you see the finished shot on the monitor while you film, with no background added later in post. That alone takes costs off the budget before the credit is applied.
Film in New Mexico and put the 30% credit to work on the budget
ABQ Castle Studios is a New Mexico Qualified Production Facility in a Class A environment, and it appears on the New Mexico Film Office’s official list of Qualified Production Facilities. Studio days here put a production on the state’s 30% track: the 25% base credit plus the 5% QPF uplift, on qualified in-state spend. Qualified expenses include cast, crew, post-production and catering.
Refundable means the state pays the credit out after the production’s spend is reviewed and approved, even when there is no New Mexico tax to offset. It is money back, not a discount you have to find a use for. Based on our experience, payout is estimated at roughly 6 to 12 months, and timelines vary. For the percentages, the rules and what a Qualified Production Facility is, read our guide to the New Mexico film tax credit.
- Refundable New Mexico film credit
- 30%
- Base credit plus the QPF uplift
- 25% + 5%
- Months to payout, estimated; timelines vary
- 6 to 12
Investor-backed financing for select productions
For productions we choose to back, we add a second layer. Our investors can fund the studio, cinema cameras and equipment, the sets for the picture, lighting, grip, audio, dressing rooms, the prop and furniture warehouse, and most of what a shoot needs on the floor, before shoot day. In exchange, they take a share of the picture.
The financing is structured around the state credit, so the two are planned together against your actual production. We co-invest selectively: we review the script, the budget and the team, and we decide which pictures to back.
Why a virtual studio changes the budget math
For a feature, we put together the sets your script calls for as part of the production, and they are quoted with it. Some are sets we already have, adapted and dressed for your picture. Others our in-house artists build new from your reference, or recreate from the real place with our patented CastleVision method. Once a set is built it loads in seconds, so a procedural can move from its courtroom to its police station on one floor, and a picture that travels can play its airport, its subway and a foreign square without a plane ticket.
That takes line items off the budget before the credit is even applied:
- No company moves and no travel days between locations
- No location fees or scouting
- No physical set construction, and no strike
- No set storage. Your sets live on drives, so pickups reload the exact set, lighting and framing, even months later
On the right picture, those savings can reach hundreds of thousands, even millions.
Albuquerque also requires no film permit. See how a production is priced for what moves the quote.
What the Albuquerque studio puts on the floor
ABQ Castle Studios has one of the largest virtual production stages in the world, at 8610 President Pl NE, about ten minutes from the Albuquerque Sunport. It is our feature film studio.
- Stage and lighting: a green screen cyclorama with 36 Aputure Nova P300c fixtures across the grid and floor, and a full grip package
- Cameras: three ARRI Alexa 35 cinema cameras with Fujinon cinema zooms (14-35mm and 20-120mm), a carbon-fiber telescoping crane, pedestals and three camera-tracking systems
- Virtual production: Unreal Engine render and playback machines and three Ultimatte keyers for live, in-camera compositing, run by the virtual system operator included in every rental
- Audio and recording: Sennheiser lavs and booms, an Allen & Heath SQ7 console, AJA Ki-Pro recording, Blackmagic switching and routing
- Support: production offices, dining, makeup and dressing rooms, a star-talent motorhome, a furniture and prop warehouse, a conference room and extensive parking
Local New Mexico crew and department heads are available to hire, so the spend that earns the credit stays in state. For the full tour of the building, see the Albuquerque studio page.
Features already shot on our stages
Mr. Spaceship, a feature-length sci-fi drama, was captured almost entirely in camera in Albuquerque with a New Mexico resident crew, an all-New Mexico cast and New Mexico vendors. The Running Woman also shot at ABQ Castle Studios. Across our two studios, Abstraction (2025) is a released sci-fi feature shot entirely on our stages. For how features and series run on the pipeline, see our film and TV virtual studio rental page.
Shooting part of the picture in Los Angeles? Our Burbank studio runs the same pipeline, so a production can split between the two without losing continuity. The New Mexico credit applies to qualified spend in New Mexico.
The fine print on financing and incentives
- Production financing is available to a limited number of qualifying productions. It is offered at our sole discretion, subject to qualification, and is not guaranteed.
- Anything on this page is general information, not an offer, a commitment or financial advice. Every production is quoted individually.
- We are not tax advisors. Confirm how the credit applies to your production with a production accountant and the New Mexico Film Office.
Send the script and we will model the picture
Bring the script, the budget and the schedule. We will walk you through the incentive structure against your actual production, and give you a tour and a live demo of the studio and the technology. Book a studio tour by appointment, or check availability now.
Questions
Film financing and the New Mexico credit: what producers ask.
- What is investor-backed production financing at ABQ Castle Studios?
- For a limited number of productions we choose to back, our investors can fund much of what the shoot needs on the floor before shoot day: the studio, cinema cameras, the sets for the picture, lighting, grip, audio, dressing rooms and the prop and furniture warehouse. In exchange, the investors take a share of the picture. The financing is structured around New Mexico's 30% refundable credit.
- Which productions qualify for financing?
- Financing is offered to a limited number of qualifying productions, at our sole discretion, after we review the script, the budget and the team. It is subject to qualification and is not guaranteed.
- Do we need your financing to get the New Mexico credit?
- No. The credit is a separate state program. ABQ Castle Studios is a New Mexico Qualified Production Facility, so qualified in-state spend here can earn the 30% refundable credit whether or not we back the picture. Our guide to the New Mexico film tax credit covers the rules.
- Can the financing and the credit be combined?
- Yes. For productions we back, the investor financing is structured around the state credit, so the two work together: the credit returns part of the qualified in-state spend, and the financing can cover much of what the shoot needs on the floor. Every production is modeled individually against its own script, budget and schedule.
- Is this tax or financial advice?
- No. We are a studio, not a tax advisor. Anything on this page is general information, not an offer, a commitment or financial advice. Confirm how the credit applies to your production with a production accountant and the New Mexico Film Office.
- What should we send to be considered?
- Send the script, the budget, the shoot dates and who is attached. A producer reads it, not a sales queue, and replies by email or phone. We walk you through the incentive structure against your actual production and can give you a tour and a live demo of the Albuquerque studio by appointment.
More on getting the picture made
- New Mexico film tax credit How the 30% refundable credit works
- The Albuquerque feature film studio Where the credit applies
- Film studio rental Renting a studio for a feature
- Virtual studio rental for film and TV Features and series shot in camera
- How a production is priced What moves the quote, including the sets
- Recreate any real location Built from photographs, plans or an address
- CastleVision The patented method behind the live composite
- Mr. Spaceship, shot in Albuquerque A feature made with a New Mexico crew
- What’s filmed in Albuquerque The productions that shoot in the city
- The Burbank studio Burbank, the Media Capital of the World, minutes from the major lots
- Tour the facility What is on site at each studio
- Credits Features, series and shows finished here
Tours run by appointment at both studios. Bring the script or the rundown and we will price the shoot against it.
