What could film studios in Southern Nevada do for the economy?

An economic study commissioned to gauge the impact of building a film and TV studio suggests one studio project could create 16,000 jobs and contribute about $1.2 billion to Nevada’s state economic output.

Warner Bros. Discovery said their proposal to build a 34-acre campus – called Warner Bros. Studios Nevada – in partnership with UNLV would use about $1.4 billion of proposed film tax credits over a decade and a half, according to the newly released report. The economic impact analysis was conducted by Nordicity, a film and TV industry consulting firm, and Saffery, a strategic planning and accounting firm.

This summer, the media conglomerate pledged to spend $8.5 billion in production in Nevada should its project receive the proposed tax credits it says the studio project is contingent upon.

Another project proposed by Sony Entertainment and the Howard Hughes Corp. will similarly seek tax credits to build a studio complex in southwest Las Vegas. They estimate their project could contribute $2.8 billion annually to the state’s economic output and add about 15,000 jobs when the project is complete, according to a fiscal impact report produced by consulting firm PFM in May. That figure includes estimates from direct, indirect and “induced,” or economic activity generated from the new labor income.

The proposed studios

Both proposals are tied to expected bills in the Nevada Legislature’s upcoming session. State Sen. Roberta Lange, D-Las Vegas, is expected to propose up to $95 million in annual film tax credits over about 15 years. Studios must first build infrastructure to be eligible for the tax credit.

Sony and Howard Hughes have proposed a 31-acre production campus on Town Center Drive near the 215 Beltway. The project received zoning approval from Clark County officials in March.

The media companies have months of work ahead to get the tax credit proposal passed. Lange introduced a version of a film tax credit expansion plan late in the 2023 legislative session, but its shortened legislative timeline and high-price tag left it out of formal discussions.

New proposals from Lange and Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui, D-Las Vegas, are expected to be introduced in the 2025 session – with fewer dollars available from the state. Warner Bros. and Sony may be effectively competing for whatever transferrable tax credits are available if passed. Currently, the state offers $10 million in annual film tax credits.

The Warner Bros. project with UNLV is associated with the Senate draft bill, while Sony’s is associated with the Assembly version.

A key element of the expanded film tax credit proposals is boosting the film industry workforce in Nevada. Both legislators have said they intend to include workforce training program requirements as part of their bill language.

Representatives of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 720, the union representing many industry workers, declined to comment for the story because they said they did not want to appear in favor of one proposal over the other.

Economic impact figures

In the Wednesday economic report, Warner Bros. officials said production would start in the first year after the bill’s passage, where they would begin production by converting a local warehouse in the second half of 2025 to start production before the full studio facility is complete. They plan to partner with Newport Beach, California-based Birtcher Development.

The studio brand said it will commit at least $500 million in content spending in the first three years. They said they expect to spend about $667 million annually, on average, in the remaining years of the incentive.

The facility is expected to take three years to complete and could provide more than 1,000 construction industry jobs. Its development budget of $900 million will be split with about half committed to the construction of soundstages and associated studio buildings and the other half devoted to construction of studio attraction, retail, hotel, media and technology lab and other contingent facilities, according to their plan.

Local and state governments can expect to receive 92 cents back in tax revenue for every dollar of the credit used, according to the economic analysis.

Sony’s project, meanwhile, expects to generate $715 million in state and local taxes, about $304 million of which would return to the state, according to its fiscal analysis. Construction could add more than 12,600 direct construction jobs during build-out phases and more than 7,100 direct jobs once the studio campus is up and running.

Warner Bros. Studios Chief Operating Officer Simon Robinson said the purpose of releasing their economic impact report now, instead of during the 2025 legislative session when lawmakers could discuss the policy change, was to inform them and the public ahead of time. Robinson said it’s about making clear that the studio views the project as a long-term investment in Southern Nevada.

“The whole development is really linked to driving employment and growth tied to the creative arts,” Robinson said in a Thursday interview. “It’s not a big property development that just happens to have a studio in the corner. This is really us as a company, putting roots down and becoming part of the community.”

Warner Bros. representatives say they will launch “Crew HQ” in the first three years, its workforce and education program that would be implemented as part of the incentive’s requirements.

The proposed studio could generate more than 16,600 ongoing jobs in Nevada, according to the economic impact report. About 12,000 of those would be in studio production, while the remainder would be generated by other production, the media and tech lab, a studio attraction, retail and hotel jobs. The report says national film and TV industry wages – almost $85,000 – are about 35 percent higher than Nevada’s average wages.

Robinson said the Warners Bros. lot plans also include a tourism revenue stream via the studio tours similar to attractions at their other studio properties in Burbank, the United Kingdom and Tokyo.

“I want to do a lot more work around that, decide what IP it is – that is a very important thing,” Robinson said. “Is it Harry Potter themed? Is it DC themed? Is it more broad? We have a huge wealth of IP that we can attach to it and I think it’s an opportunity to retain more visitors for an extra day in Vegas.”

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