why is breaking bad set in new mexico
Breaking Bad The network ordered nine episodes for the first season (including the pilot), but the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike limited the production to seven episodes.[16] The initial versions of the script were set in Riverside, California, but at the suggestion of Sony, Albuquerque was chosen for the production's location due to the favorable financial conditions offered by the state of New Mexico. Once Gilligan recognized that this would mean "we'd always have to be avoiding the Sandia Mountains" in shots directed toward the east, the story setting was changed to the actual production location.[17][18] It was shot primarily on 35 mm film,[19] with digital cameras employed as needed for additional angles, point of view shots and time-lapse photography.[20] Breaking Bad reportedly cost $3 million per episode to produce, higher than the average cost for a basic cable program.[21]