ARIZONA FILM INSIDER - FEBRUARY 2026

INSIDE THE AZ LEGISLATURE

Crossover Week Wraps with Late-Night Action

The end of February found Crossover Week wrapped up in dramatic fashion with an overnight marathon floor session in the House, following nearly 18 straight hours of debate and voting. By the end of the night, House members had advanced 183 bills to the Senate, an unusually large volume for a single session. While long floor days aren’t unheard of at the Capitol, this kind of extended session is more commonly associated with budget night rather than routine legislative deadlines.

House Republican leadership attributed the lengthy session to Democratic members pulling bills from the consent calendar. That procedural move requires legislation to go through an additional step, Committee of the Whole, rather than proceeding directly to final vote, adding time to an already packed calendar.

Democratic members pushed back, pointing instead to the historic volume of legislation filed this session. With more than 2,100 bills introduced, leadership argued that congestion was inevitable given the sheer scale of the workload.

Following the late-night session, the House adjourned until Monday, March 2nd. The Senate is also managing a substantial slate of bills but has opted for a batch-processing approach, indicating it will continue voting bills out and transmitting them to the House into next week.

Tourism Director Nomination Heads to DINO

On Monday, the Senate’s Committee on Director Nominations (DINO) will meet to consider Governor Hobbs’ nominee to lead the Arizona Office of Tourism, Director Alix Skelpsa Ridgway.

The DINO Committee has been one of the more politically challenging stops for gubernatorial nominees the last few years, and the Office of Tourism nomination is expected to receive close attention. The agency’s previous nominee resigned following procurement and conflict-of-interest allegations, placing additional focus on the confirmation process.

Director Skelpsa Ridgway currently serves as the Office’s Interim Director. Prior to that role, she was AOT’s Deputy Director, overseeing community and government affairs, travel trade, social media, research, grants, and Tribal affairs. Before joining the Arizona Office of Tourism, Skelpsa Ridgway served as Chief of Strategy and Communications for the Arizona-Mexico Commission and held several government roles in Texas.

The hearing will be an important one to watch as the Senate continues its review of agency leadership nominations.

INSIDE FILM TUCSON

The dusty streets of Mescal Movie Set hosted a commercial for a national beer spot starring two famous NFL celebrities (a former center, and a formal nose tackle. Film Tucson was elated to assist this fun and funky spot which will be airing nationwide in March. Dozens of local crew were hired and the visiting production team fell in love with Tucson's breezy vibe.

Three big-name location professionals flew into Tucson recently and received tours of an airplane boneyard, some of our vintage small towns (Bisbee, Douglas, etc.), a few ranchlands, all four border towns, and a few deserts, among many other things. Collectively, they've worked on such iconic shows as Tenet, One Battle After Another, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, so getting scouts of this caliber to explore the Old Pueblo made us deeply proud. These ongoing series of site visits are the best way to keep southern AZ on the radar of these location experts who will potentially return to Tucson with projects in hand long into the future..

INSIDE PHOENIX FILM OFFICE

The month of February has been a busy one in Phoenix, with 16 permits issued. Projects included (but were not limited to): Dick’s Sporting Goods, Owala, the NBA, Red Bull, Nike, Selah (independent film), and Natural Balance.

Commercials continue to be the most prevalent and impactful type of production shot in Phoenix. Since 2012, projects that came directly to the Phoenix Film Office have generated:

• 638 unique projects

• $65.5M in direct spend

• 1,152 shoot days

This $65.5M represents 49.9% of all production spending in Phoenix during this period. Television follows with $16.3M, then Still Photography at $13.5M, and Feature Film at approximately $8.7M (this figure excludes Transformers V, which was an anomalous outlier). Documentaries round out the list at just over $4M.

While the statewide incentive helps attract projects that are actively seeking incentive support, the reality is that commercials typically do not have the timelines required to participate in an incentive program. Although technically eligible, incentives are not a factor in their location‑making decisions.