Hollywood turned the small New Mexico town of Carrizozo into a post-apocalyptic wasteland, and the only complaint came from a dog.

The Denzel Washington thriller The Book of Eli, shot in and around Carrizozo (population about 935) earlier this year, financially benefited the town through jobs and spending for such things as lodging and meals.

"I don't know the financial impact yet, but they hired 120 extras, and 39 were from Carrizozo," said Dirk Norris, president of the local chamber of commerce and now the town's film liaison for the New Mexico Film Office. "They hired 15 people as security guards, two as location or production assistants. And they hired a concrete/cement company to provide rubble. They also used one of the local junkyards to provide crushed cars. They even rented a pile of red bricks."

Norris heard but one gripe: "I was on a street corner talking to a reporter from KOAT when a woman came up and said, 'When is this damn film going to be over? These people are driving my dog nuts!' "

But the pet problem was nothing compared to the grief expressed in a recent Los Angeles Times article that reported some Las Vegas, N.M., residents aren't too happy with the film business. The piece spotlighted several Las Vegas citizens who felt film artists acted like "they're a big deal" and who griped about street closings and businesses losing customers while such productions as No Country For Old Men and Paul (a sci-fi comedy currently shooting there) are in town.

That article set off a string of online comments from film-industry supporters suggesting such publicity hurts the industry and led various town leaders to tout the plus side of show business.

Lee Fluhman, mayor of Roy, N.M. (population about 300), wishes his small town would be used in every made-in-New Mexico film. The production company for Have You Heard About The Morgans?, a comedy starring Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker, shot there for a week in June.

"That's the first film we ever had here," Fluhman said. "They didn't inconvenience us at all; they were very respectful. We told Sony Pictures we'd like them to come back once or twice a year!" Fluhman figures the town took in at least $75,000 from the setup.

Ann Lerner, film liaison for Albuquerque, said the Duke City has hosted some 85 film and television projects since 2003, the year she took on the job and one year after New Mexico began offering financial incentives to movie companies.

Those incentives include a 25 percent tax rebate, interest-free loans and free use of some state property. But the competition for film business is fierce — Louisiana, for instance, just upped its rebate to 30 percent — and anything resembling negative publicity can break a deal, it seems.

Lerner said the key to making everyone happy is communication. The city of Albuquerque — which Lerner said reaps about $130 million a year from the film industry — works with production companies to inform communities of incoming projects that may lead to traffic delays, street closures and high-speed car chases.

Proper notification wasn't enough for everyone when the sci-fi thriller Gamer shot there earlier this year. The plot involves death row inmates fighting one another via video-game brain implants, she explained. One scene called for a night-time street explosion, and Lerner got an earful from an elderly lady who had been informed about possible disruptions.

"She said she didn't understand why the city of Albuquerque was letting death row inmates out at night," Lerner said.

New Mexico Film Office director Lisa Strout echoed Lerner's comments about communication. "When people know what the rules are and it's really clear what that entails, 90 percent of the problems clear up," she said. "The question is, how do you communicate? Notification letters aren't really the standard in that business."

Las Vegas, eager to keep the movie money rolling in, recently adopted a resolution declaring the positive impact of commercial film production and establishing guidelines for film permits — which include encouraging film companies to give a 45-day notice regarding a shoot and holding a public hearing for citizens at least 20 days before start-up. Likewise, companies must obtain at least 61 percent of signatures of any businesses, homeowners and tenants impacted by a film shoot.

Andy Kingsbury, owner of Plaza Antiques in Las Vegas, thinks those who kvetch about closed streets and slow sales should accept it as part of a business deal.

"This business has been as much a part of Las Vegas' heritage as farming," he said. "We've been making films here for 100 years." (Among the first movies shot in the state were silent westerns, many starring Tom Mix, out Las Vegas way.)

"We get shut down for parades, religious events, even a motorcycle rally that's going to happen this weekend," he said. "My position is, don't locate on the plaza if you don't want to be inconvenienced. I don't think you should get up in arms about it. I look at it as time off."

But he also earns nice fees renting props to movie companies, such as the biopic Georgia O'Keeffe, which shot there late last year. "That's been a big help in tough economic times," he said.

Others, such as Las Vegas native Jim Terr — a musician, writer, satirist and filmmaker — believe the Times article can only draw positive attention to the community, which includes an old-fashioned railroad town.

Yet despite his avid support for his hometown (visit lasvegasnmfilm.com), Terr said he's "through with promoting Las Vegas as a film location. I've done my share. I'd just like to do my own feature when I can, and if I could find the funding to do one about a small town with a contentious relationship with film productions, I'd get on it tomorrow!"

Contact Robert Nott at 986-302 or rnott@sfnewmexican.com.