How taxes brought Breaking Bad and Pluribus to Albuquerque

When we think of Breaking Bad, When we think of the New Mexico desert, the characteristic blue sky and all that scenery that has become a trademark of the series. But few know that Walter White was almost a Californian. 

Although many now consider Albuquerque to be a separate character in the series, the choice of the city was not aesthetic, it was financial.

TV's biggest drama about money, drugs and crime only exists as we know it because the creator, Vince Gilligan, was trying to pay less tax.

The same reason took Better Call Saul and Pluribus, their next successful productions, to the state of New Mexico.

The script for Breaking Bad was designed for Los Angeles

When Gilligan wrote the pilot for Breaking Bad, he imagined almost everything in the metropolitan area of Southern California. It was the natural environment of American television, with studios, ready-made crews, simple logistics.

But before the idea got off the ground, the people at the Sony studio proposed that Gilligan shoot in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The reason was simple: the state has a “aggressive tax incentive program for audiovisual productions”.

Filming there would mean makinga series with a much bigger budget, which would result in a increase in quality (the fans thank you for your choice!).

As a bonus, in addition to maintaining the border with Mexico, Albuquerque's sky is “absolutely stunning and cinematic”, according to Gilligan.

The series creator then evaluated the studio's idea as very good and explained“So I changed the scenery to Albuquerque and never looked back.”

Better Call Saul and Pluribus naturally followed

For Better Call Saul, which is set in the same universe, it wouldn't even make sense to shoot elsewhere. But tax avoidance did not fail to help the series and the state itself, since the production generated jobs and directed more than US$ 177 thousand to educational programs in the region.

Pluribus, the latest series created by Vince Gilligan and currently running on Apple TV, tells a completely different story and cements how much the director really enjoyed shooting in Albuquerque.

He told that “Pluribus” could have been set in any mid-sized American city, but explained that having a production team already established in and around Albuquerque made the decision even more obvious.

“We have a beautiful team that is a family to me,” he said. “I wanted to continue working with them. It's as simple as that.”

Films and series by other creators were also taken to the state for the same tax reason.

• No Country for Old Men was planned for Texas, but the reimbursement of 25% of tax expenditures in New Mexico spoke louder.
• Transformers was supposed to be recorded in the desert areas of Nevada, but ended up in the New Mexico desert.
• The Avengers, from Marvel, were looking to film in various places with tax incentives, including Michigan. But the state reduced the incentive and ended up with Albuquerque, which welcomed S.H.I.E.L.D. with open arms.
• Indiana Jones: why would cinema's greatest treasure hunter leave a good part of the gold for California and Arizona if New Mexico charges less tax? Part of the filming went there for this reason.

The phenomenon is repeated between Brazil and Paraguay

Interestingly, the movement that led Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Pluribus and so many other productions to New Mexico is not very different from what is happening to many Brazilians who are migrating their lives and/or businesses to Paraguay.

The logic is identical: if the neighboring government charges less, is less bureaucratic and returns part of what you move, why keep paying more to Brazil?

Just as audiovisual productions analyzed numbers, compared scenarios and realized that Albuquerque offered more room for creative survival, countless Brazilians are discovering that Paraguay offers exactly that in the business world.

If this makes sense for your reality, the Sovereign can help you. Fill in the form below to get in touch, and our team of lawyers, tax experts and accountants will help you to open a company in Paraguay to pay much less tax.

The reasoning is the same that guided Vince Gilligan: if there is a more advantageous ecosystem, it makes sense to take advantage of it.