Victory at Camel Rock Studios

 

Written by: Sam Morrow


(Corbley, 2020)  https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/first-native-american-owned-film-studio/


Camel Rock Studios is situated within the foothills of mountains called the Sangre de Cistro in New Mexico. The land of Tesque Pueblo has been featured in multiple films as the background when beautiful deserts were needed (Corbley, 2020).  The land owned by the Tesuque Pueblo is an amazing location with scenic deserts and a very notable rock formation known as Camel Rock. These mountains are brownish red in color and very stunning. Officials of the tribe stated that there is around twenty seven square miles of the reservation available for filming outside. This tribe is comprised of around eight hundred members (CONTRERAS, 2020).

Tesuque Pueblo landscapes have seen many different movies filmed on its turf, including such classic cinematic films such as “The Man from Laramie” and “Cowboy.” The area was particularly useful for filming western films, since New Mexico has plenty of scenic deserts that are just perfect for cowboy films (Schneider, 2020).

During the fall months, Universal Pictures approached the studio with plans to use the studio to film a new movie called News of the World, which starred major Hollywood star Tom Hanks. The movie was ultimately filmed at Camel Rock Studios (Schneider, 2020). This facility became the first movie studio owned by Native Americans in the history of the country.

In 2019, a New Mexican based tribe, the Tesuque Pueblo, unveiled a casino that had been moved out its previous location. The previous home of this casino was a building that was 75,000 square feet. The Tesuque Pueblo realized that this large building would be perfect as a movie studio (Schneider, 2020).

The Tesuque Pueblo used a development company to put fifty thousand dollars into renovating Camel Rock Studios. These renovations included general sets for filming, a tank of water designed for doing film work, and prop studios. Also, one thousand spots for parking were added (Corbley, 2020).

A governor of Pueblo descent, Robert Mora Sr., stated that he is optimistic of the potential money income for the Tribe from this studio as it may help bring healthcare to the Pueblo people. He particularly hopes that universal coverage will become a choice for the Tribe, as this is something they would benefit from. Mora went on to say that he just hopes that the major movie making companies will start using New Mexico for filming cinema, since there is around a whole third of New Mexico landscape to use just by using this studio (Corbley, 2020).

The Pueblo of Tesuque Development Corporation CEO and president, Timothy Brown, discussed the casino turned movie studio, stating that a casino without any games simply becomes a large space without anything in it. Brown mentioned how the community once had a center for events in which extreme parties were held and concerts were performed within. With everything removed, this center for events was turned into a huge empty area and then it was transformed into a place for businesses to put offices and cubicles. This casino was similar, but it had been able to be turned into a practically ideal movie studio (Schneider, 2020).

Brown would go on to talk about how the Pueblo of Tesuque Development Corporation greatly wants to jump on board the boom of New Mexican based filming, persuaded partly by the fact that the state offers economics advantages. New Mexico has experienced an increase in television series being filmed in the state. Netflix went so far as to make Albuquerque its primary hub of production in America (Schneider, 2020).

Recently, Netflix bought Albuquerque Studios. Albuquerque Studios is known as the biggest soundstage in the whole of the state. Netflix executives believe that, every year, they will spend one hundred million dollars within New Mexico. NBC has also stated that they plan to put work in Albuquerque, with NBC preparing to set up a movie and television studio within this area, created an expected three hundred and thirty jobs while also spending five hundred million dollars during production (Schneider, 2020).

Chris Eyre, a Cheyenne and Arapaho studio advisor, stated that throughout cinema history, Native American tribes have tended to be presented inaccurately and discriminated against. These unfortunate issues have affected Native Americans in the films and also behind the scenes. However, now the New Mexico based Tesuque Pueblo are turning things around and taking control of cinema (CHISHOLM, 2020).

All in all, Camel Rock Studios is an amazing leap forward for Native Americans. With the Tesuque Pueblo as the owners of this studio, stories bringing light to Native American viewpoints are inevitable. Even though the movie making industry has often ignored Native American ideas and ideals, this studio could change all that. Hollywood movies have brought new stories to the world for many years now and now those stories can include ones about Native Americans. This is truly a victory.



Sources:

CHISHOLM, N. J. (2020, March 17). Camel Rock Studios Is First Film Studio Owned by Native Americans. Retrieved from Color Lines: https://www.colorlines.com/articles/camel-rock-studios-first-film-studio-owned-native-americans

CONTRERAS, R. (2020, June 30). New Mexico tribe transforms old casino into movie studio. Retrieved from Seattle Times: https://www.seattletimes.com/business/new-mexico-tribe-transforms-old-casino-into-movie-studio/

Corbley, A. (2020, March 22). First Native American-Owned Film Studio Shoots Tom Hanks Movie. Retrieved from good news network: https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/first-native-american-owned-film-studio/

Schneider, M. (2020, March 13). As New Mexico Filming Booms, First-Ever Native American-Owned Film Studio Opens. Retrieved from variety: https://.com/2020/biz/news/camel-rock-studios-new-mexico-news-of-the-world-universal-1203533796/



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