It’s high noon for New Mexico’s film industry, and you can be part of the pos to its rescue. The Mine Shaft Tavern & Cantina and Eaves Movie Ranch are c for Wild West Fest, an all-day country music festival on Saturday, September benefit the state’s film industry workforce. The Writers Guild of America strik e week after 146 days; the Screen Actors Guild strike was ongoing as of press t

Lori Lindsey, owner of Madrid’s Mine Shaft Tavern, says that at least $5 of eve will directly benefit film workers, and she hopes that more than 1,000 peo up to support the cause.

“I was inspired by the strikes when I started to realize that all of a sudden, th these talented people who need work,” she says. “The strikes were creating a lot of movie people in the state and for movie venues like Eaves Movie Ran it might be nice to do a fundraiser for the union members of the movie indu

The festival begins at noon, and a dozen bands are on the bill, headlined by

Shop and Felix y los Gatos. Multiple stages will allow musicians to play simulta Lindsey, with Clan Tynker performing vaudeville-style circus acts between se

The festival includes a drag show and an art auction featuring pieces creat members. The Eaves Movie Ranch saloon, Lindsey says, will be filled with mu a pop-up restaurant in the bank is operated by local tin

The biggest star for the day will be familiar to anyone who’s seen the TV show Yellowstone. He’s Clyde “The Movie Star” Buffalo, and he doesn’t have to cross a picket line to participate.

“He lives right down the street. It’s an easy commute,” Lindsey says of the celebrity bovine. “He’s just like a big dog.”

Jennifer Labar-tapia, a film commissioner and executive director of the Santa Fe Film Office, says that the writer’s strike has been going on since May, which means several TV and film industry workers were out of work for about five months.

Film work in the state had been on an upward trajectory for years, she says, but the last quarter of the last fiscal year was marred by the lack of opportunity.

Film and TV workers have had to tighten their belts. It’s especially hard because many of the workers in the film industry aren’t able to file for unemployment — and it may have run out by now. And then, says Labar-tapia, there’s the matter of all the ancillary industries that help the film industry thrive.

“When we say film industry, we’re also looking at all the supporting resources,” Labartapia says. “That’s our prop houses, wardrobe houses, rental houses, dry cleaners, and caterers; everybody who helps support this industry is being hit really hard with this because they’re not leasing out the equipment, and the dry cleaning hasn’t been coming in. The same with our local hardware stores that maybe were benefiting from all the sets being built. You look at all these businesses that aren’t necessarily union workers, but they are businesses in our industry, and those individuals are getting hit really hard as well.”

Eaves Movie Ranch was recently painted white for its use in the 2021 film The Harder They Fall, and it’s been used in movies such as Silverado (1985) and Easy Rider (1969). It’s a perfect setting for a fundraiser, says Lindsey, and she hopes to make the inaugural Wild West Fest into an annual event.

“I’ve always wanted to do this particular festival, so it’s not like a new thought in my head,” she says. “The recipients of the fundraising is what’s different, and maybe next year, we’ll do it for a different group. It’s always nice to do fundraisers, and we do a lot of them at the Mine Shaft Tavern.” — S.F.

Begins at noon on Saturday, September 30

Eaves Movie Ranch, 75 Rancho Alegre Road

$35 themineshafttavern.com