By KRWG News
New Mexico – Lawmakers want the state to start offering loans to independent New Mexico filmmakers for small-budget productions.
The House approved a bill on Thursday to allow an existing loan program to offer financing of up to $3 million for film projects by New Mexico producers.
The state makes no-interest loans of up to $15 million for film and television productions but only one of the two dozen loans since 2002 was for less than $3 million.
The legislation provides for loans charging an interest rate, which could be lowered if the film was done in a rural area of the state and if most of the cast and crew were from New Mexico.
The bill passed the House 66-1 and goes to the Senate.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.