Nevada could become hub for TV and film industry | News

Nevada's epic landscapes have played host to many Hollywood films, but now Nevada lawmakers are discussing building permanent studio infrastructure in the Silver State.

Senate Bill 496, or the Nevada Film Studio Infrastructure Act will be heard Tuesday.

Las Vegas democratic Senator Roberta Lange is sponsoring the bill, and the stakeholders are Bircher Development, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Howard Hughes corporation.

The goal is to build two tv and film sound stages in Southern Nevada.

One "zone" will be located in Summerlin - and the other at UNLV.

Each zone is expected to cost around $800 million.

They'll be funded through both private equity investment and from the film tax credit administered by the governor's office of economic development.

The three main goals of the bill:

1. Create permanent long-term studio infrastructure for expanding the content creation industry.

2. Make Nevada’s film tax program competitive with other states in the film and television industry.

3. Merge the content creating industry with the university system through the 'Nevada Media and Related Technology Education and Vocational Fund.'

This could have impacts across the state.

The Nevada Media Lab at UNLV would collaborate with other state-wide schools, fundraising, endowments, grants, scholarships and content and commercial opportunities across the state. .

Construction would employ 8 to 10 thousand union and construction workers - and once the studios are complete- they would create an estimated 16-thousand total jobs.

The goal is to have tenants occupying the space by late 2026, with content being created by 2027.

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With three weeks left in the legislature, budget subcommittees are finalizing their numbers and presenting them in committees. If republican lawmakers vote against those budgets, it's because those budgets are not following the intent of Governor Joe Lombardo's budget he outlined at the beginning of the session.

If Lombardo doesn't agree with the budgets, we could see last minute vetoes in which the legislature wouldn't have enough time to reconvene and propose new budgets. However, if just one republican senator votes with democrats, both chambers would have a two-thirds majority to override Lombardo’s vetoes.

In the case of last-minute vetoes, Lombardo would be forcing a special session which sources tell us at this point is likely. Lombardo would name the date, time, and topics of the special session.