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It's just six months old, but Albuquerque Studios is running out of space.

That's not to say the studio's execs are complaining.

"It's really exciting," said Nick Smerigan, chief operating officer of Albuquerque Studios, the $74.8 million film-production facility that opened in February at Mesa del Sol. "It's what we thought it would be."

Already, the studios' six operating sound stages are booked solid through mid-January and now host four productions - two TV series and two feature films, Smerigan said.

The studios also are negotiating with a feature film production that could tie up all six studios through Dec. 15, 2008, he said. And another potential contract could see the space in use through January 2010, he said.

"There's no room at the inn," Smerigan said.

The studios are owned by Pacifica Ventures, a Santa Monica, Calif., real estate company servicing the needs of the entertainment industry. The company hopes to replicate the success in Albuquerque elsewhere in the United States.

Just last week, Hal Katersky, Pacifica's chairman, announced a proposal to build a movie and TV studio in the Philadelphia area.

"There is big pressure over the cost of a production," Katersky said in an interview with The Tribune. "It costs a lot of money to produce a movie in Los Angeles."

Pacifica is hoping to give production companies options by way of convenient locales in states that offer film incentive packages - a goal that would make filming less expensive and keep work from heading to places such as Canada, Katersky said.

Albuquerque, he said, proved a convenient starting place. New Mexico offers a competitive incentive plan, which includes a loan program and rebates of 25 percent of a production's expenses that are subject to state taxes.

And, as strange as it may seem, Los Angeles traffic congestion makes a trip to New Mexico quicker than a trip across town for Hollywood productions, he said.

"Santa Monica to Burbank takes longer than the trip to Albuquerque," Katersky said.

Pennsylvania lawmakers about a month ago approved $75 million in film tax credits. Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said last week he is working to put together a $10 million incentive package to get Pacifica's studio up and running.

"I think there's probably room for three or four (studios) in the U.S.," Katersky said.

Pacifica, however, will be choosy. A state might have a great incentive package for film production, but the location might not be as attractive, he said.

On the other side of the equation, Katersky said he has scouted a location for a studio in Charleston, S.C., but that state has yet to pass any film production incentives.

Meanwhile, back in Albuquerque, the company is planning for a 210,000-square-foot expansion to include two more sound stages, office and retail space, and a home for a Sony Imageworks digital film production facility, Smerigan said. It is scheduled to be complete by Labor Day 2008, he said.

Pacifica has the option to develop another 26 acres on which it can build at Mesa del Sol, though the company had made no plans for the site, Katersky said.

"We've got eight (stages) here," Katersky said, "and we may build a few more."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.