By the Time I Get to Tucson

For the winter I think I'll live in Tucson. Why not? My only goal for the Winter of 2007 is to skip it. I want to stay warm. Tucson almost never gets cold, so I'm here to stay for a while.


I left Texas in a funk back in August and have not looked back. I spent 74 wonderful days in the Albuquerque and Santa Fe area of north central New Mexico, but when the night time temps began to fall into the sub-comfortable range I decided to head south.


My blog "1100 Miles to Vegas" has daily (or almost daily) updates of my trip across the Southwest.


While in Santa Fe I attended the Filmmakers Intensive open house at the College of Santa Fe. It's a new program for anyone interested in the film business, offering three tracks of study in screenwriting, directing, and producing. I'm looking at 2009 as a possible time frame to apply for the screenwriting track. Students spend nine months to a year learning from professional filmmakers on the College of Santa Fe campus.


The College of Santa Fe is evidently the only college in America that has a professional film studio attached to its campus, providing film students the opportunity to observe films being produced and shot in the Santa Fe area. Internships on various productions are possible as well.


The film industry in New Mexico has exploded, with numerous films and TV shows being filmed all around the state. New Mexico began in 2001 providing financial incentives to lure Hollywood film producers, and it's working.


Among the films being shot in New Mexico recently is Kevin Costner's Swing Vote. A new professional studio in Albuquerque, plus one being planned for Santa Fe, will see plenty of Hollywood business in the future. Russell Crowe's 3:10 to Yuma was filmed in New Mexico last year and the new Indiana Jones movie is coming to the state next year. In October, there were 19 movies being filmed around the state, and numerous commitments being made for 2008 and beyond.