‘An investment in Nevada’: Details emerge in Las Vegas film studio plan

CARSON CITY — Proposed legislation expanding the state’s film tax credit program to lure Hollywood studios to Southern Nevada has captured the interest of some in the state, but state lawmakers questioned the finer details of a program that could cost the state up to $1.65 billion in unrealized tax revenue over its 15-year lifetime.

Assembly Bill 238 would encourage the film industry to develop a campus of sound stages and ancillary production services in Las Vegas by offering transferable tax credits to studios that build out that infrastructure.

Co-sponsors of the bill, Assembly Members Sandra Jauregui and Daniele Monroe-Moreno said the proposed legislation — which is specifically tied to the Summerlin Studios project — could result in nearly 18,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs and a significant investment in media education and vocational training for Nevada students.

“We are building into this legislation, and through partnership agreements, curriculum and apprenticeship programs for K-12 and higher education students, including a 10,000- to 15,000-square-foot facility at UNLV, with millions in a dedicated funding stream and guaranteed internships for those students,” Monroe-Moreno, D-Las Vegas, told lawmakers during an Assembly Revenue Committee meeting Thursday. “I am very excited that we’re not only creating tens of thousands of new careers with this bill, but we’re also building a pipeline for the next generation of talent.”

The proposal has generated significant interest in Southern Nevada and beyond. Over 100 people turned out to the hearing at the Las Vegas satellite location, with some standing in the back waiting to speak and others sitting in multiple overflow rooms. Construction union members filled the hearing rooms in Las Vegas and part of the Carson City room.

Vince Saavedra, secretary-treasurer of the Southern Nevada Building Trades Unions, told lawmakers in Carson City the bill helped more than the film industry.

“This is more than an investment in film,” Saavedra said during the roughly four-hour meeting. “It’s an investment in Nevada and Nevada’s working families.”

Others pushed back on that idea.

The transferable tax credits could be applied against modified business taxes, insurance premium taxes, a gaming license fee or a combination of the three.

Lawmakers asked the bill sponsors and studio representatives how they can ensure the workforce will be made up of Nevadans. The bill requires at least half of the principal photography days of a qualified production take place in the state and requires a workforce plan that includes hiring underrepresented groups.

Simon Robinson, chief operating officer of Warner Bros. Discovery Studios, said finding local employees was part of the bill’s intention. He said the lack of available tax credits available in this biennium gives the studios time to develop a Nevada workforce.

“As a matter of practicality, filming a movie or show here in Nevada to get the tax credit and then shipping in 50, 60, 75 percent of the workforce doesn’t make economic sense for us,” Robinson said. “Part of what’s attractive to us about this is because we believe that we can build a sustainable workforce here.”

Estimated economic impact

The studios would bring about 6,000 direct jobs with an estimated direct economic impact of $572 million, according to a fiscal and economic analysis by PFM Group Consulting. The total economic effect predicted when the studio project is complete is about $3 billion with an estimated 17,680 jobs, according to the analysis. Those estimates include indirect impacts, or the business-to-business purchases in the supply chain, and induced impacts, or the household spending predicted to be generated from the labor income.

The construction phase is estimated to generate more than 12,000 direct jobs over its seven to eight years of development, the analysis showed.

Another bill, Senate Bill 220, proposes a similar expansion of the film tax credit program to build a studio campus at UNLV’s Harry Reid Research and Technology Park in southwest Las Vegas. Sen. Roberta Lange, D-Las Vegas, told the Review-Journal last week that bill will likely have its first hearing in March.

A previous version of this story incorrectly quoted a statement from Simon Robinson.

— Reporter Jessica Hill contributed to this report.

Contact McKenna Ross at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on X.