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LMGI COMPASS
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Spring 2026
(portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix) can consolidate power as sheriff.
Against this backdrop, the film's chaos lands harder: socially
distanced lines outside grocery stores, smashed windows,
protests, dumpster fires, sniper fire, total collapse. The
environment mirrors the tension—hot, dry, and economically
strained, yet edged by stark natural beauty, with a narrow ribbon
of green tracing the river through the desert.
Before we committed, I called the local film liaison to make sure
he thought the city had an appetite to host a film for six weeks. He
said yes, and we took the plunge.
Operating two and a half hours from Albuquerque's production
hub brought a series of firsts. We rigged dozens of film lights to
streetlamps, burned 50-foot-tall letters into the desert, and staged
a multiday downtown action sequence with full-load machine
gunfire. We were making a Western—showdowns unfolding along
Broadway. Ari frequently framed shots straight down the main
road, requiring the lockup of 10 consecutive, COVID-empty blocks
and evoking the classic Western, High Noon.
Eddington became a wild ride through the desert night—
and a reminder of what lies beyond New Mexico's established
production corridors. I have always loved scouting locations in
the uplift zone, a new term we've coined recently from the recent
incentive changes, which now include an additional 10% uplift for
filming more than 60 miles from Albuquerque and Santa Fe. For
the first time in years, it feels financially viable to look outward.
After 15 years of working within the creative constraints of the
30-mile zones around those hubs, this shift is significant. It opens
the door to new landscapes, new communities, and locations
that haven't yet been shaped by production. With the added
rebate helping offset travel and per diem, remote regions are no
longer just creatively compelling—they're more feasible. And for
a location manager, that changes everything.
EDDINGTON
LOCATION DEPARTMENT
LM John Lucas/LMGI
KALMs
Ehrin Davis/LMGI
Todd Spradlin
ALMs
Luke Hawthorne
Brody Pringle
Christina Lucas
