by April Corbin Girnus, Nevada Current
Before the lights and the cameras and the action of Hollywood can come to Nevada, there must come approval of hundreds of millions of dollars in tax incentives. That’s the position of two major film studios hoping to build production studios in the Las Vegas Valley.
Sony Pictures Entertainment and Howard Hughes Company are hoping to build a 31-acre production studio as part of a 100-acre mixed-use development in Summerlin. It would be, according to Sony Pictures Chair and CEO Tony Vinciquerra, the company’s only studio outside of the Los Angeles area and a boon for the Las Vegas economy.
But it won’t happen without a massive overhaul of the state’s film tax credit program.
“We’re just waiting for the Legislature to approve the incentive program,” added Vinciquerra, noting that the studio received zoning approval from Clark County in March of this year. “We’re ready to start digging dirt in Summerlin.”
At the same time, Warner Brothers/Discovery on Tuesday announced it will partner with UNLV and Birtcher Development on a similar project — dubbed Nevada Studios. They are envisioning a 34-acre campus with “full-service film and television studios and other facilities designed to capitalize on emerging technologies related to WBD’s content creation,” according to the press release.
That proposed studio would be located on UNLV’s Harry Reid Research & Technology Park, in the southwest part of the Las Vegas Valley.
“Interesting timing, I guess,” said Vinciquerra of the Warner Brothers announcement. “But, you know, we’re looking forward to building our facility, and we’ll see what the Legislature says about having more than one.”
He added, “We’re very, very confident that we’re going to get our project done.”
Both proposed studios were included within a single film tax credit bill introduced late in the 2023 Legislative Session, though Warner Bros wasn’t yet involved with UNLV and Birtcher. That bill, sponsored by state Sen. Roberta Lange (D-Las Vegas), would have been a nineteen-fold expansion of the program that allowed for up to $190 million in transferable tax credits annually for two decades.
Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui (D-Las Vegas) announced in June she would introduce film tax legislation for Sony. Warner Brothers in its press release said Lange would sponsor legislation for its project.
Howard Hughes CEO David O’Reilly said the updated ask would be “modest” and noted the annual incentives have been reduced to $100 million.
Vinciquerra and O’Reilly opted not to opine too much on the project proposed by Warner Brothers, but the latter said the interest of two movie studios in Las Vegas should be seen as “a solidification of the validity of the opportunity.”
“We think it’s a no-brainer because talent, directors, everyone wants to come here,” said Vinciquerra. “Most live in LA. They’d much rather come to Las Vegas because they could go home on the weekends, rather than like Atlanta.”
Beyond its physical proximity to Hollywood, Las Vegas is also ideal because many of the skills needed by studios are already ingrained into the culture and economy of the entertainment-focused concerts and stage productions the Strip is known for.
“These people (in Las Vegas) already know how to produce things,” said Vinciquerra. “All of the conventions that come here, people already know how to do the audio-visual systems. … There’s a great workforce already here that can be transitioned into crews for television and film commercials.”
If and when the proposal (or proposals) come up in 2025, they will likely be met with strong opinions. In 2023, left-leaning groups like the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada and conservative groups like the Nevada Policy Research Institute were united in opposition to the bill.
LVGEA CEO Tina Quigley, while on stage with Vinciguerra, asked him to respond to research that has claimed film tax credits do not have a good return on investment for states.
Vinciguerra responded that he found it hard to believe governments in other states would continue supporting their film tax credit programs if they weren’t producing value. He speculated that the reports mentioned by Quigley, which included one showing that Georgia received 19 cents for every $1 in film tax credits, might not have factored in ancillary jobs.
He also said Nevada’s revamped film tax credit program would be unique because it is tied to physically developing a studio.
The pitches…
Sony Pictures Entertainment has said its Summerlin film studio would bring $1 billion in production over 10 years, some of which would be from Sony-produced projects and others from projects by other studios using the campus.
Sony estimates the building of the facility would create 19,000 construction jobs and 15,000 direct jobs after completion, as well as thousands more ancillary jobs. Sony claims the average annual salary for a direct studio job will be $113,000.
Ancillary jobs, Vinciguerra said, would include things like the drycleaners and caterers serving the productions.
Warner Brothers/Discovery claims its studio would involve a minimum of $8.5 billion in long-term production.
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