Albuquerque Railyards to become CNM’s newest classroom

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The revitalization of downtown Albuquerque continues – this time with the focus on creating a better more consistent use of the Railyards. This change is thanks to a partnership between the city and CNM. 

When people think of the Railyards, they think of the Sunday market or one of the many blockbuster movies that were filmed there. But now, the space will become CNM’s newest classroom. 

“This historic site will provide our students with an aspiring backdrop for learning and we know it has set the stage for many great movies but we certainly know this is just the first step of many great opportunities for our students and neighborhood and community partners here,” said CNM President Tracy Hartzler.

Starting this fall, film and digital media students will be able to take hands-on courses in the same building where movies like “Transformers” and “Avengers” were filmed. Plus, so many other artists have found inspiration in the space. 

“I think every artist would agree this is just an industrial cathedral that they all love to be in and work in and so that is an added bonus for the students who sign up for this they are going to get access to this facility so we are very very excited about that,” Mayor Tim Keller said. 

With CNM’s newest curriculum, they are getting ready to train workers for every aspect of the state’s growing film industry.

“From camera operators to production assistants to makeup artists we have been able to expand our programming to meet what employees and what our film industry partners have needed,” Hartzler said. 

Students will learn about film and production in real-world environments. 

“The students are going to be allowed to more or less roam freely with hard hats and other things,” Keller said. 

“The goal is to get our students and learners into our programming, so they can go out and get good paying jobs and again represent their first start here in film,” Hartzler added. 

Sign-up for classes is open now. They will start on Oct. 8 with a production assistant boot camp.