Nevada Lawmakers, Sony Want to Build Las Vegas Film Studios

Posted on: May 11, 2023, 09:43h. 

Last updated on: May 12, 2023, 01:02h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Restaurants, Las Vegas Myths.

In an effort to lure more Hollywood production to Nevada, state legislators have proposed a massive expansion of the state’s film tax credits. And they already have a customer waiting.

The Las Vegas Media Campus
The Las Vegas Media Campus, proposed for land owned by UNLV in southwest Las Vegas, is one of two studios Sony Pictures said it is prepared to build and use in Las Vegas if a new film tax expansion is passed. (Image: Birtcher Development)

If Senate Bill 496 passes, Sony Pictures is prepared to commit up to $1 billion in production spending in the state over a decade, the film studio told the Nevada Independent, which broke the news. That includes possibly building not one, but two major motion picture studios, the first of their kind in Nevada.

SB 496, the Nevada Film Studio Infrastructure Act, proposes up to $190 million in annual, transferable tax credits for film and TV production over more than two decades, far exceeding the state’s past use of transferable tax credits.

Though these credits could cost the state $2 billion, the bill’s supporters argue they could earn as much as $55 billion in revenue over the next 20 years.

Cinema City

One studio, the Las Vegas Media Campus, would be located on land owned by UNLV near Interstate 215 and Durango Drive. The project is expected to cost $800 million, half of which would be contributed by California-based Birtcher Development. In January, UNLV approved a deal to lease the land to Birtcher for 100 years.

Summerlin Production Studios would be located in the master-planned community northwest of the Strip. The Howard Hughes Corp. owns Summerlin and is expected to take the lead with Sony.

A total of $175 million of the transferable credits would be available for production companies that work at the two proposed studios.

Sony Pledges Commitment

Introduced by state Sen. Roberta Lange (D-Las Vegas), SB 496 has bipartisan support, with GOP senators Scott Hammond and Heidi Seevers Gansert, and Democratic Assemblyman Cameron Miller, signing on as sponsors.

The bill doesn’t mention Sony Pictures by name, though the owner of Columbia Tri-Star issued a statement to the Independent indicating its desire to be involved.

“Sony Pictures supports expanding film and television production in the state of Nevada,” the statement read. “Working with the Howard Hughes Corporation and Birtcher Development, and pending the passage of legislation guaranteeing a competitive Nevada production incentive, SPE is prepared to commit up to $1 billion in production spend in Southern Nevada over the next 10 years.”

State of Movies

According to the Nevada Film Office, a part of the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development, 370 film and TV productions were shot in Nevada in 2022, generating $72 million in revenue for the state. This was down from the 429 productions generating $77.5 million in 2021. The most ever generated was $95.6 million from 500 projects in 2011.

These amounts pale compared to film revenue generated in California, the headquarters for most of the world’s major studios. However, it’s hoped this bill would help Nevada compete with a state like Georgia, which successfully lured $4.4 billion in production away from Hollywood, in part by issuing $1.3 billion in tax credits in 2022.

Lawmakers have less than a month left if the bill is to pass this legislative session.