LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Nevada leaders and film representatives held a UNLV town hall to discuss a proposed bill backing a tax credit package for movie studio Warner Bros. and its future Las Vegas campus.
The forum discussed Nevada’s current tax credit options for filmmakers, the Warner Bros. collaboration with UNLV and the battle among different states to entice movie studios to launch productions and bring thousands of jobs.
“I wouldn’t do a bill if I wasn’t hopeful that it could pass,” said State Senator Roberta Lange. FOX5 previously spoke to Lange about the extensive partnership with UNLV for career development to hire locals.
“It’s important to create an industry that’s going to bring more revenue into our state so that we can fund those important things like education and affordable housing in Nevada,” Lange said.
Local filmmakers were eager to hear the proposal, but also asked how Warner Bros. could help small productions.
“We’re really looking to partner with the smaller filmmakers. Everyone has a story. Ultimately, our platform is to support storytellers,” said Warner Bros. spokesperson Caroline Lett.
Lett told the audience that Warner Bros. is already looking for warehouses to film productions, even before the proposed campus is built.
Lange tells FOX5, the bill is currently being written and will be finished in January before the 2025 Legislative Session.
In August, Warner Bros. Discovery announced the newly named Warner Bros. Studios Nevada at UNLV’s Harry Reid Research & Technology Park.
A spokesperson said that Warner Bros. Discovery will invest $900 million to build the studios, pledge $500 million of spending annually ($8.5 billion in total over 17 years) at UNLV’S Harry Reid Research & Technology Park near the 215 Beltway and Durango Drive and bring 7,500 jobs a year.
According to a Warner Bros. Discovery spokesperson, the movie company would be approved for tax credits of around $100 million per year for a period over 17 years.
The proposed project is all pending the approval of a tax credit bill.
Sony Pictures made a similar announcement in August about its plans for a Las Vegas campus.
The Chairman and CEO said Sony Pictures is ready to immediately invest $500 million to launch Summerlin Studios at the 31-acre parcel off Flamingo Road and Town Center Drive — pending approval of a tax credit package. The project is being developed in partnership with the Howard Hughes Corporation.
The Sony project will bring 18,000 jobs.
In the Assembly, Majority Leader Sandra Jauregui will spearhead the bill to support Summerlin Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment, creating a workforce training program.
It would request $100 million in tax credits, according to CEO David O’Reilly of the Howard Hughes Corporation.
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