Warner Bros. says it would run Las Vegas film studio — with tax credits
Warner Bros. Discovery plans to expand into Southern Nevada through a long-term commitment to run a film studio in the southwest valley — but the plan is contingent on the expansion of a film tax credit program.
The studio announced that it would join up with UNLV and Birtcher Development to run Warner Bros. Studios Nevada at the Harry Reid Research and Technology Park and commit $8.5 billion in long-term production spending if the program passes in the 2025 legislative session.
Simon Robinson, chief operating officer of Warner Bros. Studio, said a Nevada studio would add to its existing properties in Burbank, California, and the United Kingdom. In a Tuesday interview, Robinson said the Las Vegas studio could create 7,500 jobs, with about half in production and half ancillary.
He said the company has been looking around the country for the right location for expansion. The film tax credit program proposal, along with the region’s proximity to California, made Southern Nevada ideal, Robinson said.
“The way this bill is written is especially attractive,” he said. “It attached itself to a facility. It’s not one movie at a time where there’s no certainty about the level of commitment from the state.”
The partnership relies on the outcome of a state legislative proposal for film tax credit expansions proposed by Sen. Roberta Lange, D-Las Vegas, in the 2023 session. In a news release, Lange said she would reintroduce the measure as a way to diversify the state’s economy and develop its workforce. Her 2025 proposal suggests creating up to $95 million in annual film tax credits.
Last year’s bill, Senate Bill 496, proposed making $190 million available annually in film infrastructure tax credits for 20 years. Birtcher, along with Sony Pictures Entertainment and the Howard Hughes Corp., spearheaded the effort. Sony and Howard Hughes proposed its own film campus in Summerlin. The lobbying effort during the 2023 session even brought some high-profile names to Carson City in favor of the tax credits — namely, actors Mark Wahlberg and Jeremy Renner.
Though the bill never made it to a floor vote, stakeholders continued their efforts to lure movie and television production to Nevada. Sony and Howard Hughes received zoning approval in March for their $1.8 billion studio and mixed-use development on Town Center Drive off the 215 Beltway. No construction timeline was set.
The multi-stage studio Warner Bros. Discovery plans to lease at the Harry Reid Research and Technology Park could be 34 acres and break ground as early as 2027, the university said in April. The proposed tax credit program also includes a planned “Nevada Media and Technology Lab” building dedicated to vocational training, internships and workforce development opportunities for grade school and higher education students.
“We believe the attachment of UNLV is super important — great for the film school and access to a large student body and a great faculty, so it was an opportunity for us to partner closely there in developing training programs and giving students an opportunity to work on our movies,” Robinson said.
MBS Group, a film studio company that UNLV previously announced as an operating partner on the studio project, is expected to work with Warner Bros. to spearhead the tax credit effort, according to a spokesperson.
Contact McKenna Ross at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on X.