Pitching studio expansion, Hollywood studio brings star power to UNLV

As talk emerged about bringing the movie industry to Las Vegas, Warner Bros. exec Dan Hart pulled on a red UNLV ball cap.

A healthy cheer went up from the crowd jammed into an auditorium at UNLV’s Flora Dungan Humanities building.

Later, many of those same students and several UNLV College of Fine Arts educators wore black Warner Bros. Studios hats, with the familiar “WB” crest at the top.

We clearly have kindred spirits in the effort to bring film to Las Vegas. Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and UNLV now want to make this concept a reality. The proposed 34-acre campus, dubbed Warner Bros. Studios Nevada, would take over the Harry Reid Research and Technology Park in the southwest.

Birtcher Development of Newport Beach, Calif. is on board as an operations partner. The film and TV-studio campus would be Warner Bros.’ third such project, joining studios in Burbank and just east of London.

Students in the act

UNLV students would be offered five six-week, full-time internships every school year if the studios are fully realized. The demand for film opportunity was reflected in the turnout for Wednesday’s event, an audience of about 300 in a room designed for a hundred fewer.

“You are a passionate team. You can feel that in this room,” said Hart, who is executive vice president of Warner Bros.’ Worldwide Studios. “We are going to grow an industry, not quite from Ground Zero … But ensuring that we give an opportunity to every single person in all of our community. You guys are at the beginning of this journey.”

UNLV Film Department Chair Heather Addison moderated the panel discussion. New Line Cinema and WBD Executive Vice President of Physical Production Kate Beyda, UNLV Film Department associate chair and professor Brett Levner, and UNLV Department of Film grad student Marquise Hebbler took part in the presentation.

Hebbler told the crowd he once infiltrated a student film project to unearth studio contacts.

“In my undergrad, I portrayed myself only as a screenwriter, and because of that, I didn’t get on any sets,” Hebbler said. “So I found a student production, with a bigger budget and some names attached, was filming. I snuck on, I literally found the line producer, and was like, ‘Oh I didn’t get a call sheet? What happened there?’ And she sent it to me.”

Since, Hebbler has been doing freelance work and also is a graduate teaching assistant. In its framework, the UNLV-Warner Bros. internship program would give such promising students a more linear path to professional development.

Jump through the door

After Hebbler spoke, Dart posed the rhetorical question, “How do you get into the business?”

“It’s actually a piece of advice I never tried to give, because it’s really hard to stay in the business,” Dart continued. “Whatever the job opportunity or the experience opportunity you get, jump through that door. You might be looking to be a screenwriter or a director, but you actually never know where you’re to end up.”

The veteran studio exec drew a mix of gasps, laughs and a smattering of applause with, “I never, in my wildest dreams, thought I was going to end up running studios. You know, I left school at 15.”

Addison cut in with, “There are many paths to a wonderful education.”

Having stated it would invest $8.5 billion in the program, the Warner Bros. Las Vegas plan hinges on a state legislative proposal for film tax credit expansions, as proposed by Sen. Roberta Lange (D-Las Vegas).

Lange’s proposal to the 2025 legislative session would create about $95 million in annual film tax credits over 20 years. Estimates are for 7,500 jobs created by the project.

Lange led the effort to for expanding film-tax credits — they are $10 million annually now — in the 2023 legislative session. A-listers and Nevada residents Mark Wahlberg of Las Vegas and Jeremy Renner of the Lake Tahoe area have advocated on the plan before the legislature.

Two studios in the mix

As Warner Bros. moves into Southern Nevada, Sony Pictures Entertainment and the Howard Hughes Corp. are also advancing plans for a 31-acre, $1.8 billion studio and mixed-use development on Town Center Drive off the 215.

The two studio behemoths would likely share the credit benefits, should the bill approved.

UNLV College of Fine Arts Dean Nancy Uscher said the momentum to make the Warner Bros. studios a reality is undeniable.

Cool Hang Alert

Sigrid Nunez, author of “The Friend” and “The Vulnerables” is in conversation with “Some of My Best Friends” essay collection author Tajja Isen in The Beverly Theater’s LIT series at 7:30-8:30 p.m. Thursday at The Writer’s Block at 519. S. 6th Street in downtown Las Vegas. The film adaptation of “The Friend,” starring Naomi Watts and Bill Murray, will be screened at The Beverly at 5 p.m. The conversation is a ticketed event. The film screening is free and open to the public. Go to thewritersblock.org for intel.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.