New Mexico tax authorities have denied an application by the producers of “Rust” that would have been as much as $1.6 million, and are facing a late-July deadline to appeal, according to the Associated Press.
Rust Movie Productions had filed for the incentives, which were denied sometime this spring, the AP reported, citing documents it obtained. Alec Baldwin, producer and star of the ill-fated production, is set to go to trial starting next week on involuntary manslaughter charges from the accidental fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
An attorney representing the production company said the tax incentive would have helped fund a legal settlement already struck between producers and Hutchins’ family.
“The denial of the tax credit has disrupted those financial arrangements,” Melina Spadone told the AP. She was a key figure in brokering the 2022 settlement, terms of which are confidential, that allowed the idled production to start up again. The production wrapped in 2023.
Payments toward the settlement are as much as a year behind, according to court documents revealed earlier this year. New Mexico’s film incentives program is among the nation’s most robust, right behind Georgia, with qualified expenses being reimbursed up to 40%.
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