UNLV film students hopeful as Warner Bros. plans expansion into Las Vegas

Celine Johnson was born and raised in Las Vegas, so it’s no surprise she’d gravitate toward an industry like film.

The 19-year-old film major at UNLV has big plans to master skills in cinematography, editing and producing so she can one day join the ranks of filmmakers like Steven Spielberg and Greta Gerwig.

She’s already had the chance to work on short films for class and spends much of her time outside of class watching movies and television shows.

One of her favorites is “The Last of Us,” an HBO series — based on a video game of the same name — starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as a duo trying to navigate their way across a zombie-infested U.S. to find a cure for a virus.

Las Vegas could become a rival to Los Angeles’ film industry with help from Warner Bros. Discovery, which announced in a panel with UNLV on Wednesday said it was looking to make Las Vegas its new “HQ 2.”

“Most people think of Vegas like, oh, it’s the city of lights and stuff, but we’re not too really concentrated in film just yet, which I think Vegas is the perfect place to do that,” said Johnson, who attended the panel discussion hosted by UNLV’s College of Fine Arts. “I hear nothing but the possibility for me and other students to be in the heart of where everything is gonna be, around us. I feel like I came to UNLV at the right time to be a film major.”

In August, Warner Bros. Discovery — also referred to as WBD — announced it was partnering with UNLV and Birtcher Development to “lease, operate and fully occupy Nevada Studios” — renamed to “Warner Bros. Studios Nevada.”

The 34-acre media production and multi-use facility will be built at UNLV’s Harry Reid Research and Technology Park in southwest Las Vegas. It will consist of 14 stage facilities, workshops, offices and everything required for the media giant to “maximize benefits that will come from the tax incentive,” said Dan Dark, executive vice president of worldwide studios at Warner Bros. Studios.

The studio’s future rests with a bill to be proposed by state Sen. Roberta Lange, D-Las Vegas, in the upcoming legislative session, WBD officials and UNLV faculty emphasized.

It will propose up to $190 million in annual film tax credits over 20 years — which would specifically benefit two production campuses in Las Vegas, including the one at the Reid research park.

The second campus, a 30.8-acre complex called the Summerlin Production Studios, would be in northwest Las Vegas and funded through a partnership between Sony Pictures Entertainment and Howard Hughes, the developer of Summerlin whose namesake produced more than two dozen films and even ran studio RKO Pictures from 1948 to 1955.

Dark said that if Lange’s bill — which she first proposed in 2023 and will be recycled for the 2025 legislative session starting in February — passes, it would create a “unique opportunity” for the media production company and UNLV. He added that he didn’t know “of another university that is going to have this level of partnership with a major motion picture company.”

Should the bill pass, WBD would pledge over $8.5 billion for the studio, which it hopes to break ground in the last quarter of 2025 and open around 2028, Dark added.

“We are going to create an incredible film school together, and that school is going to benefit all of the education bodies,” Dark said. “This must be a win-win for everybody. My North Star is always about this industry that I love, and we must do what’s right for the industry and what’s right for the state overall, and we are passionate about that.”

Film incentives can be a make-or-break proposition for studios looking to shoot shows or movies outside of a studio lot, explained Kate Beyda, executive vice president of physical production at New Line Cinema, a production studio owned by WBD.

Now that movies are shot around the world, executives like Beyda are tasked with helping identify locations that would have plenty of benefits for the production company. Incentives, existing studio facilities and crew availability are some of the main reasons a company may choose to film in certain locations.

The panel was moderated by Heather Addison, chair and professor of UNLV’s department of film, and featured Dark; Beyda; Brett Levner, associate chair and professor in the film department; and Marquise Hebbler, a third-year graduate student in UNLV’s master of fine arts in screenwriting program.

The group lauded the studio’s ability to bring more opportunities for film students and other locals looking for jobs in the entertainment industry, from carpenters working on sets to future directors. Dark noted that this new studio would create more than 16,000 additional jobs for the region.

Internships are crucial ways for students to gain experience in the film industry and make connections in the industry, said Levner, who has spent 13 years teaching at UNLV. One of her first internships was in New York, where she lived on her father’s couch while working and, because of that, was able to take on that opportunity for no pay.

It’s much harder nowadays for students to take low-paying internships, especially if they must relocate to places like Los Angeles.

“If this bill were to be passed, it would bring more productions through so that our students can get those experiences and internships, apprenticeships, (production assistant) jobs, which is our entry level into the industry,” Levner said. “It’s great that we’re creating these opportunities locally for our students by making these films and so forth, but they need more. I think they need more, and that’s why this is so exciting.”

While it awaits the upcoming legislative session, WBD plans to host a series of panel discussions on campus with industry experts; provide students with free, exclusive advanced screenings of its upcoming films and TV shows; and establish a student advisory committee to provide input on the Las Vegas studio’s development.

A paid, six-week summer internship will also be offered to five rising juniors and seniors from UNLV, where those chosen will be able to get hands-on experience in departments like lighting, gripping, costume design and postproduction, among others. They’ll also receive a housing stipend to help them relocate near the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, Calif., Dark said.

With all these opportunities on the horizon, Johnson said it’s an exciting time to be a student in the film program at UNLV. Before the panel ended, Addison encouraged students to call their state legislators and encourage them to support Lange’s bill once it’s reintroduced during next year’s legislative session.

Johnson is ready to call whoever she can make the Warner Bros. studio in Las Vegas a reality, she said.

“It just makes me so happy to be a film student; telling stories through visual media is so beautiful and I love being around people who have this shared interest, and it’s super exciting, this bill, and I hope it gets passed,” Johnson said.

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