New Mexico
In Talks With Casting Director Kathryn Brink On New Mexico Productions and More – Casting Networks
Kathryn Brink is one of those rare people who has thrived in the entertainment business in spite of never living in either New York or Los Angeles. She’s spent her entire adult life in New Mexico, and has never found any reason to live anywhere else. Since incentives were introduced to expand production in the state, Brink’s career has exploded, rewarding her faith.
Don’t limit her, either. She’s no longer just acting as the local casting director for productions, she’s now the lead for more and more films, including The Absence of Eden, starring Zoe Saldana and Garrett Hedlund, currently in theaters. There is something reassuring, maybe even a little thrilling, about someone succeeding in Hollywood without living there, or compromising what’s important to them in the process.
That’s Brink in a nutshell, a professional who stays true to herself. She spoke to us from her home office in the Land of Enchantment.
How did you get into casting in the first place?
I actually graduated from college with a directing degree, and went almost immediately into television production stuff that was mostly centered around commercials and big interactive video games. That was what was going on in the industry at the time in New Mexico. I was doing mostly line producing and things of that sort. I was also constantly doing casting for a lot of my directors.
They’d be like, Well, you know what I want, why don’t you just do the casting on this commercial? I loved working with the actors, so it felt like a natural fit. Then, when the industry really started to change in New Mexico, we got all the incentives and the industry really started to pop, I thought, you know, I’d much rather be in the casting end of things. I’m not enough type A to be a producer forever. (Laughs) So yeah, it was a natural shift.
It’s amazing to me how often I talk to casting directors who say they kind of fell into it, or they started out as an actor or as a director, and then got into casting that way, because it was a chance to work with actors, without acting yourself, or from a directing perspective without having to deal with all the other stuff that not everybody wants to deal with.
(Laughs) Very true. I think it’s great because I had a huge amount of experience, being intertwined with other departments and understanding their concerns and priorities. I think that really helped a lot in terms of giving me the perspective and the confidence to work with people that are in all those different areas of production, and how I have to be part of a team.
Can you tell me about working specifically for productions set in New Mexico?
It has evolved. That is one 100% for sure, when I first started doing casting here, there wasn’t a single director that would would look at anyone for being anything other than a day player with two lines. They just didn’t trust that we had the talent pool here. That has absolutely changed drastically. COVID really seemed to move things in a whole different direction, because the the directors and producers knew that we couldn’t be in person anymore, they really had to take our word that these are the people that you want to see.
I think it gave casting directors that are in a local market a little more freedom to really be able to help make decisions about roles, and to start incorporating and bringing people in that would be reoccurring roles, costar roles, even starring roles. A lot of the movies that I’m working on now, I’m doing all the casting, not just local casting. Granted, they are more in the independent vein, but it’s really exciting to be able to see these New Mexico actors get elevated in their profession and be able to absolutely be able to compete and be cast in the larger roles.
I would have thought that something like Breaking Bad would be a line of demarcation for New Mexico, but it sounds to me like the equanimity of the pandemic really opened up everything for everybody.
I think it did. I just think it blew away some of the illusions that we had that you can’t be a casting director in New Mexico and be casting in LA, or an East Coast casting director can’t do west coast casting, and so forth. I feel like the directors and producers have had more of an open mind since then.
What about the decision to stay in New Mexico, rather than moving to one of the coasts?
I think that when I really came into my own with casting, I had also gone through some fairly significant like changes. So I wasn’t 22 years old or 25, which is maybe a time when I would’ve said, I’ve got to go to LA and I have to be part of that market. I made decisions based on what I thought was going to be a very well rounded lifestyle for me, where my work was extremely important, but also who I surrounded myself.
The environment here was also equally as important for my child to be here. I just felt very strongly that things were going to change here. I could already see it coming. When the incentives started and things really started to pop, I think that was enough to keep us here. Now, there are casting directors in New Mexico who really have that strong connection to Los Angeles, who are equally as much there as here, and that works for them. But for me, I felt like my life style choices were just as important as my career choices, and I chose to stay here,
That’s surprisingly healthy talk for somebody in the entertainment industry.
(Laughs) And there have been moments when I’ve kicked myself and said, Well, why the heck didn’t I? Or I’ve lost a job to somebody else, and it’s like, gosh, if I had just been in LA, I would have attached myself to that project. But I guess I have a fairly humane, esoteric kind of view of life.
What piece of advice or wisdom would you give to an actor coming into audition for you?
I think just to try to relax. Because if you’re not relaxed, you’re not going to be yourself. There’s so many actors that are not used to auditioning in person anymore. Even actors who are very experienced, lately I had a callback session and I had an actor say to me, I am so nervous, and this is somebody I’ve cast like four or five times. So I’d say to those people, just take a breath and relax. We love you. You wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t crazy about you and your work.
So that’s number one. Breathe, relax, enjoy the process. Because if you can’t do that, then we can’t see you. Just be able to open up and show us who you are, and potentially where we could take you.
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New Mexico
14 indicted in alleged Permian Basin crude‑oil theft scheme spanning New Mexico and Texas, prosecutors say
A federal grand jury in Lubbock has indicted 14 people accused of stealing crude oil in eastern New Mexico and hauling it into Texas to resell at cut‑rate prices.
Prosecutors say the scheme targeted the Permian Basin’s vast production network, the oil‑rich region spanning southeastern New Mexico and West Texas that covers more than 86,000 square miles and accounts for the majority of U.S. crude oil production.
All 14 defendants are charged with conspiracy to transport stolen property across state lines, and several also face counts of interstate transportation and receipt, possession, or sale of stolen property, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.
Indictment outlines alleged operation
Returned April 8, the indictment alleges the group stole crude oil in eastern New Mexico, some stored on U.S. government-leased land, and resold it to co‑conspirators at prices below the standard U.S. market benchmark.
Prosecutors say the conspirators transported the stolen oil into Texas for resale at a profit, knowing it was stolen.
Texas, New Mexico defendants identified by prosecutors
Texas defendants are James Darrell Reid, 65, and Randell Wayne Reid, 41, owners of Texas-based Reidco Enterprises and both of Electra – about 25 miles northwest of Wichita Falls and 115 miles from Fort Worth – along with Christopher Frederick Harris, 22, of Seminole, about 80 miles west of Midland.
The remaining 11 defendants are from Lovington, a southeastern New Mexico community of about 11,690 people, roughly 20 miles west of the Texas state line and squarely inside the Permian Basin.
They include:
- Louis George Edgett, 68;
- Brenden Floyd Strickland, 25;
- Sixto Herrera-Estebane, 43;
- Gyardo Gonzalez, 47;
- Jesus Martin Hernandez-Borja, 51;
- Diana Marquez Rojo, 45;
- Jose Luis Rojo, 49;
- Jose Mario Rivas-Mendoza, 37;
- Miguel A. Soto, 41;
- Tavares Montrail Cole, 48; and
- Danny Dale Brown Jr., 42.
Potential penalties outlined by DOJ
According to prosecutors, the defendants face up to five years in prison for conspiracy and up to 10 years per count for interstate transportation, possession, or sale of stolen property.
The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Land Management, the FBI, the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Criminal Investigation Division, and sheriff’s offices in Lea and Eddy counties in New Mexico.
CBS News Texas will provide updates as additional information becomes available.
New Mexico
Governor establishes Energy Affordability and Grid Reliability Council – 13-member council designed to protect ratepayers, modernize the grid – Office of the Governor – Michelle Lujan Grisham
SANTA FE — Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham today signed an executive order establishing the New Mexico Energy Affordability and Grid Reliability Council to address the rising cost of electricity in a rapidly changing energy landscape.
The Council will convene state agency leaders, utility executives and experts in rural cooperative utilities, tribal energy, consumer advocacy, and energy policy and infrastructure to develop strategies for keeping energy affordable while ensuring the grid can meet the demands of a growing, modernizing New Mexico economy.
“At a time of dramatically rising energy prices, it’s imperative that we do everything we can to protect New Mexico ratepayers while ensuring abundant clean energy supply,” said Governor Lujan Grisham. “The experts I’ve appointed to the New Mexico Energy Affordability and Grid Reliability Council are well-positioned to make smart, insightful recommendations and I look forward to their findings.”
The Council will evaluate and recommend strategies across four interconnected areas:
- Ratepayer protection: Ensuring that large-load growth — including data centers and onshore manufacturing — does not disproportionately increase costs for residential, rural, tribal and small business customers.
- Grid modernization and reliability: Recommending rate designs and financing strategies that enable prudent infrastructure investment while minimizing long-term rate escalation.
- Clean energy progress: Advancing New Mexico’s net-zero goals under the Energy Transition Act by expanding zero-carbon generation and storage while maintaining affordable access.
- Permitting efficiency: Identifying opportunities to streamline and coordinate state and local permitting for electricity infrastructure — accelerating deployment of clean energy projects without compromising environmental review, tribal consultation, or regulatory safeguards.
The Council will deliver a final report — including legislative, regulatory and administrative recommendations — to the Governor and the Legislature by November 1, 2026.
The Council consists of 13 members representing state government, utilities, rural cooperatives, tribal communities and independent experts:
- Erin Taylor, acting secretary, Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department
- Rob Black, secretary, Economic Development Department
- Cholla Khoury, chief of staff, Public Regulation Commission
- Lynn Mostoller, executive director, Renewable Energy Transmission Authority
- Sunalei Stewart, deputy commissioner for operations, State Land Office
- Don Tarry, president and CEO, TXNM Energy (PNM)
- Kelly A. Tomblin, president and CEO, El Paso Electric
- Zoe Lees, regional vice president, regulatory policy, Xcel Energy
- Vince Martinez, CEO, New Mexico Rural Electric Cooperative Association
- Javier Bucobo, vice president of markets and regulatory affairs, Avangrid (grid infrastructure expert)
- Joseph Yar, attorney, Velarde & Yar (consumer/ratepayer advocate)
- Sandra Begay Keeto, retired, Sandia National Laboratories; member, Navajo Nation (tribal energy expert)
- Rep. Meredith Dixon, New Mexico House of Representatives, District 20 (energy policy expert)
The Council is administratively attached to the Department of Finance and Administration. Members will serve without compensation, other than per diem and mileage as permitted by law.
The executive order can be viewed here.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Republican candidate for governor Duke Rodriguez is suing Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham over her executive order that started universal free child care before a new law takes effect.
The governor enacted the program through executive order in November.
Lawmakers passed a universal child care law during the past session, but that law does not take effect until May 20.
Rodriguez says he objects to some of the rules and to how the governor started the program. The suit asks the Second Judicial District Court to prohibit further enforcement of any regulations tied to the program.
“You could understand an outgoing governor trying to do it for political capital, for expediency just to say, I’m first in the nation.” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez says he is confident he will win and that the rules he is challenging will be struck down.
“We also now have what we call pre emptive eligibility, which means you don’t even have to prove you’re eligible and you’re covered the moment you walk in,” Rodriguez said. “All of those things individually and collectively that have been proposed and changed probably invite fraud, waste and abuse and you know it.”
The governor’s office responds
The governor’s office sent a statement saying the program was properly implemented and that the governor is confident the lawsuit will be rejected.
A spokesperson for the governor sent KOB 4 the following statement:
“This lawsuit makes clear that Mr. Rodriguez has a fundamental misunderstanding how state government works. He states that ECECD did not have the authority to undergo rulemaking regarding universal childcare. They do. He states that ECECD did not have the funding to implement the program when they did their rulemaking. They did. That is why the program was operational in December – before the 2026 Legislative session started. Perhaps more importantly, the lawsuit ignores that the legislature passed SB 241, which codified the program and its future funding into law. The governor is confident that the courts will reject his meritless claims.“
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