Yahoo Finance Netflix Unveils Expanded Albuquerque Studios Facilities Spanning More Than 100 Acres in the New Mexico Desert
Netflix cut the ribbon on its newly expanded studios facility in Albuquerque at a grand-opening event Thursday in New Mexico.
Netflix acquired ABQ Studios in 2018 for a relative steal in a deal worth $30 million and the company scored additional state and local funding as well as production tax credits. The facility originally comprised eight soundstages totaling 132,000 square feet across 28 acres.
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Six years later, the company officially took the wraps off four additional new soundstages, three mills, a production office, two stage support buildings and two dedicated backlot areas across 108 acres. The investment in Netflix Studios Albuquerque “further solidif[ies] our commitment to nurturing and growing the thriving production ecosystem in New Mexico,” according to co-CEO Ted Sarandos.
“As someone who grew up in Phoenix, it’s great to be back out west,” Sarandos, who now lives in Malibu, told event attendees in his prepared remarks.
Since 2019, Netflix has directly invested nearly $575 million in New Mexico productions, according to Sarandos. From 2021-23, the company hired more than 4,000 cast and crew members for productions in the state. When factoring in other productions that have used Netflix Studios Albuquerque, the overall investment is “closer to $900 million,” he said.
Since acquiring the facility, Netflix has filmed several TV series and films in New Mexico, including “Stranger Things” Season 4, “The Harder They Fall” from writer-director Jeymes Samuel (aka The Bullitts), Zack Snyder’s “Army of the Dead” and Vince Gilligan’s “El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie.” Sarandos gave a shout-out to Gilligan, who was in attendance at the event, praising his “his unique vision and unwavering dedication to high-quality storytelling, particularly in highlighting life in New Mexico.” Sarandos also said Netflix named a crossing in the studio after Gilligan.
Netflix’s deal for ABQ Studios marked its first purchase of a production studio complex. Originally opened in 2007, the lot has hosted productions including Marvel’s “The Avengers,” “Breaking Bad” and “Sicario.”
In unveiling the studio expansion, Sarandos thanked New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller and “the numerous vendor partners” on the project, including the estimated 2,800 construction workers who built the new facilities.
Netflix’s recent active productions at the Albuquerque studios include “Ransom Canyon,” billed as a contemporary Western romance starring Josh Duhamel and Minka Kelly. That production employed over 700 New Mexicans, including 380 crew members, 40 principal actors and 30 background actors, according to Sarandos. Other productions hosted at the facility include “Pulse,” Netflix’s first medical procedural, which employs 200 crew members and 30 background actors, and supernatural series “The Boroughs,” from executive producers the Duffer brothers (“Stranger Things”).
Sarandos said that “as part of our commitment to sustainability,” the expanded Albuquerque studio incorporates features including on-site solar and battery storage systems, geothermal heating and cooling, all-electric appliances and 50 electric vehicle fast-charging stations.
Netflix shared additional photos from the studios facility:
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