LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Just days after Warner Bros. announced its plans in a partnership with UNLV, Sony Pictures executives spoke on the status of its proposed Summerlin movie studio at an economic development event in Las Vegas.
Construction of the studio hinges on lawmakers approving Nevada’s film tax credit in 2025.
The team behind Summerlin Studios is confident in their plan, saying they’re ready to put a shovel in Summerlin ground as soon as Nevada’s film tax credit passes.
If the tax credit passes, Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Tony Vinciquerra said the studio still won’t need it to kick in for at least another year after construction.
“The state will not have to put a nickel out until production happens. We and Howard Hughes are going to put $500 million in the ground before we have one shot done,” Vinciquerra said.
That $500 million is how much it will cost Sony and the Howard Hughes Corporation to build the studio. The CEO of the Hughes Corporation, David O’Reilly, said once it’s built, the studio is there to stay.
“You don’t get the credits just for production. You have to have local talent working on the site, you have to build permanent facilities. And we have a long-term commitment to make sure those permanent facilities are going to be used,” O’Reilly said.
When speaking of local talent, O’Reilly and Vinciquerra emphasized that the city’s existing entertainment industry has a workforce that can be trained for film and TV.
When it came to crews who have to come from Hollywood, Vinciquerra said, “They can go home on the weekends, instead of having to go live in Georgia, or New York or New Jersey for three months. That is a such an attraction.”
With the need for the tax credit approval and studio construction, it’s still potentially another couple of years before it’s lights, camera, action in Summerlin.
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