Parallel film tax credit proposals should be single bill, says sponsor (of one of them)
The debate over whether to massively expand the state's film tax credit program in hopes of transforming Las Vegas into 'Hollywood East' has returned to the Nevada State Legislature. And, like with many sequels, the drama may be amped up.
State Sen. Roberta Lange is sponsoring Senate Bill 220, which over several years would expand the state's film tax credit up to $83 million per year and establish the Nevada Studios Project at UNLV's Harry Reid Research Park in the southwest part of the Las Vegas Valley. Meanwhile, Assemblymember Sandra Jauregui is sponsoring Assembly Bill 238, which would expand the state's film tax credit to $80 million per year and establish the Summerlin Production Studios.
Jauregui introduced the film tax credit bill on Monday. Lange introduced hers on Wednesday.
'We have to bring these film bills together or they're not going to get passed,' said Lange, theorizing that both bills will get stuck in the joint finance committee if they advance out of their initial chamber-specific committees.
Both film studio projects were proposed under the same bill during the 2023 Legislative Session. That bill, which Lange alone sponsored, sought $190 million in transferable film tax credits annually, which worked out to a staggering estimated price tag of $4.9 billion in tax breaks over 25 years. The bill never advanced out of committee.
This year's duo of film tax credit proposals don't change the in-perpetuity annual price tag by much. Together they propose $163 million in annual film tax credits, an astronomical jump from the current cap of $10 million annually.
Sony Pictures Entertainment and developer Howard Hughes Corporation are working together on the Summerlin studio bill with Jauregui, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Lange told the Nevada Current she 'graciously allowed' the Summerlin studio project to be included in her 2023 bill, which was originally focused only on the Nevada Studios Project with Birtcher Development and UNLV. Lange says she'd expected work to continue with Sony during the legislative interim.
'Then, they went radio silent and announced their own bill,' she said. 'So they're on a different path. I'm going to continue the path that I think is right for Nevadans. We can find common ground together.'
Warner Brothers/Discovery last year announced they would be a partner in the Nevada Studios Project but a few months later backed away. The parting was amicable, says Lange.
'They just didn't really feel like our vision fit their vision,' she said, 'and I can respect that. … I know they're still interested in Nevada film, but I'm not sure what that looks like for them.'
The Nevada Studios Project still has an anchor to Hollywood: Manhattan Beach Studios Group, which has publicly attached to the project since spring of last year.
While not as recognizable a name as Warner Bros, MBS Group is a well established film and television studio operator. They work in 120 countries, 600 stages, and more than 1,000 productions per year, according to the company's website. 'The Mandalorian,' the 'Avatar' sequels, and several Marvel Studios films were shot at the company's 22-acre MBS Media Campus in Los Angeles.
Lange says workforce development and education are a big component of the Nevada Studios Project. The bill requires that the campus include a dedicated 'media and technology lab' designed for use by colleges and K-12 schools for education and vocational training.
Critics of film tax credit programs often describe them as a 'race to the bottom' egged on by large corporations who force states to compete against one another by offering larger and larger subsidies. They point to studies finding film tax credits offer a poor return on investment, making between 15 and 69 cents for every dollar spent.
Georgia, for example, has heavily invested in film tax credits, even earning the nickname 'Hollywood of the South,' but only saw 19 cents for every dollar spent, according to an analysis done by Georgia State University.
Lange says she wants Nevada Studios Project to have a $1-to-$1 ROI.
Supporters of film tax credit programs typically rely on 'ancillary' or indirect jobs, such as the drycleaners and caterers serving the productions, to boost their promised economic impact.
Neither film tax credit bill has been scheduled for a committee hearing yet. Lange's SB220 was referred to the Senate Committee on Revenue and Economic Development, while Jauregui's AB238 was referred to the Assembly Committee on Revenue.
The Assembly bill is exempt from standard legislative deadlines, and the Senate bill is likely to receive the same exemption. That exemption gives lawmakers more wiggle room for discussing and advancing the bill between now and the end of the legislative session in early June.
Gov. Joe Lombardo, who gets to veto or approve any bill passed by the Legislature, expressed skepticism about expanding the film tax credit program when asked about it by KTNV earlier this month.
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Indianapolis Star
a day ago
- Indianapolis Star
Journey of Purdue football's former top-20 recruit goes full circle with loyalty: 'He still believed'
LAS VEGAS — Tony Grimes planned to show his Purdue football teammates a small glimpse of a true Vegas experience. The transfer from UNLV wanted to take Devin Mockobee and CJ Madden to his favorite dining spot, Nico's, inside the off-strip Durango Casino Resort. He would have shared his go-to order: Burger for an appetizer, lamb chops for the entrée. Flight delays ruined those plans. Instead, the trio grabbed some carryout Wahlburgers inside Mandalay Bay and headed back to their rooms after arriving Wednesday night. In its own way, that truly reflected Grimes' year with UNLV. 'When I came to Vegas last year, yeah, I was expecting it to be something crazy,' Grimes said. 'But about two weeks in, I was like, oh, it's Vegas. You can have fun on the strip, but I'm here for football.' Grimes returned to Vegas for football Thursday, in some ways bringing his career full circle. Well, more of a figure eight. Actually it most resembles a completely haphazard doodle — not unlike one his 18-month-old daughter, Gianna, might draw. At Big Ten media days he represented his fourth (and final) team and conference. Such is the modern story of college football. Grimes began his career a blue chip recruit, weaved his way across the country through adversity and followed Barry Odom to Purdue for one final challenge. After only six-plus months on campus, though, Grimes earned a media day distinction typically reserved for a team's best leaders. Mockobee said he saw it on Day 1, when the freshly arrived transfer's spontaneous 'Purdue on three' declaration broke down a team meeting. 'He talks what he lives, and with him being an older guy, people see that and ultimately just respect it,' said Madden, in his second season after transferring from Georgia. 'He's done a great job and he's going to do great things this fall.' When he left Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 2020, Grimes could not have expected to one day wear a gold Purdue pin on his black suit at Big Ten media days. He took the long route there, too, starting at … North Carolina: Odom, as Arkansas' defensive coordinator, recruited the five-star prospect. Grimes picked the Tar Heels, though, then reclassified and entered college a year early. He began starting as a freshman, started regularly as a sophomore and junior and earned honorable mention All-ACC honors along the way. The coaches who brought Grimes to Chapel Hill began to leave. He didn't mesh with some of their replacements. So he entered the transfer portal — when Odom first tried to land him — and signed with … Texas A&M: The Aggies needed defensive back help, and Grimes was considered a big boost for a program which never quite reaches its lofty expectations. However, two weeks into preseason camp, went down with an MCL injury and knee tendinitis. He never played a snap for A&M. Grimes said he became too easily influenced by a group of teammates who 'didn't want it bad enough.' His time in College Station became a frustrating yet enlightening period. At this juncture, he stopped chasing those five-star expectations. Texas A&M fired Jimbo Fisher after the season, and Grimes looked elsewhere. He stayed in the Power Four by committing to … Michigan State: That's right — technically, Purdue is not Grimes' first Big Ten affiliation. Not every transfer goes smoothly, though. Grimes' credits transfer from A&M to East Lansing hit a snag. He would not be able to join the Spartans until the end of the summer. Grimes did not believe he could afford to miss spring football. So he decommitted and reconnected with a familiar face in a new place, called … UNLV: Odom's third attempt to reel in Grimes paid off. He started 13 games and recorded 20 tackles and six pass breakups. The Rebels won 11 games for the first time since 1984 and cracked the AP top 25 rankings for the first time in their 46-year history. Grimes completed his degree in communications and media studies. He could have stayed in Vegas for another year. Could have kept ordering those burger-lamb chop combos at Nico's. Instead, he felt a sense of loyalty to Odom. 'He saw something in me a lot of coaches didn't see in me,' Grimes said. 'He still believed I can be this top player in the country one day. He brought me in, and our journeys keep going.' That single honorable mention All-ACC selection remains the only conference recognition of Grimes' career. Odom, though, sees flashes of what made Grimes a top-20 national recruit more than half a decade ago. He said Grimes is in the best shape of his career and playing his best football right now. 'I think he's an NFL player,' Odom said. 'I think he's got the physical measurables to align with that. He's become a student of the game. 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Miami Herald
17-07-2025
- Miami Herald
From poker chips to computer chips: High-tech startups signal change to Nevada economy
Lucihub founder and CEO Amer Tadayon has started several businesses in California and Arizona. Those states never invested in his companies, but Nevada did. Thanks to a growing startup ecosystem, increasing venture capital availability and favorable investing regulations, Tadayon called Las Vegas "one of the best places I've ever been to be an entrepreneur." "You're not just a number here," Tadayon said. "You go to one of these competitions, you see a lot of very talented people, and there's a genuine interest in connecting all these people." The data proves it. The total valuation of Las Vegas-area startups increased from $1.9 billion in 2014 to $19 billion in 2024, reflecting increased investor confidence, according to a June report by UNLV's Lincy Institute. From 2020 to 2023, Las Vegas ranked fifth in the nation for total startup investment growth, according to the same report. Experts say that's largely because investment in Nevada startups has skyrocketed. The state's "Nevada certified investor" classification, established in 2023, allows non-U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission-accredited investors to put money into Nevada-based companies, and nearly every incubator and venture capital source in the Las Vegas area has emerged in the past decade. Entrepreneurs come to the valley, attracted by a low cost of living compared to Silicon Valley, and are often pleasantly surprised by the support they find, said Jeff Saling, executive director of local business incubator and accelerator StartUpNV. "There's this moment that I see in almost all of the folks who come here, and they almost all use these four words: 'I had no idea,'" Saling said. Startups still encounter challenges in Las Vegas - the city doesn't yet have the same pool of software and engineering talent as more mature entrepreneurship hubs, Saling said. The numbers indicate that the issue may be improving. CompTIA's 2025 State of the Tech Workforce report predicted 4.7 percent tech hiring growth this year in the Las Vegas area, the highest among U.S. cities. On the whole, Saling said, Las Vegas's opportunity is only growing. Microcosm of broader trends Saling said people often assume StartUpNV - being Nevada-based - funds primarily gaming and hospitality companies. It's a common misconception, he added. Instead, Las Vegas's most successful startups, and the ones that attract the most investment, are mostly those finding new ways to leverage artificial intelligence to solve enterprise problems. Companies focusing on artificial intelligence, software-as-a-service and business-to-business sales are in vogue both nationwide and in Las Vegas, Saling said, since they're often venture-scalable. In 2023, Saling identified one company that matched industry trends: Lucihub, Tadayon's Las Vegas-based hybrid video production platform nicknamed the "Canva for video." Using a combination of AI tools and human editors, Lucihub allows companies to produce professional-quality videos quickly, affordably and without specialized expertise. Enterprise users utilize Lucihub's "creative copilot" pre-production platform to generate a script, shot list and voiceovers. Then, they upload their footage - often shot on phones - to Lucihub's production cloud, where human editors produce a final cut within 72 hours. The company's goal, Tadayon said, is to increase video production efficiency using AI tools while preserving human creativity. "You know your brand and your story better than anyone else ever will," Tadayon said. In line with current trends, it utilizes AI to solve business needs. Tadayon said it doesn't cater to consumers because its price point isn't competitive for them and the product is designed specifically for enterprise applications. Tadayon founded Lucihub in 2022 and has since grown the company to $400,000 in annual recurring revenue, with a goal of $1 million in 2025, according to its pitch deck. Lucihub raised $2 million from several sources, including StartUpNV and Battle Born Venture, Nevada's state venture capital program. The company is currently raising another $2 million, with additional funding from the two Nevada-based sources. StartUpNV's 1864 Fund recently announced a $500,000 investment in Lucihub as part of the $2 million funding round. The fund, established in 2021, represents another new and growing funding pool for Nevada entrepreneurs. After years of steady ecosystem growth, groundbreaking news emerged in October 2024, when AI GPU cloud platform TensorWave secured $43 million in SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity) funding for startups. The sum represented the largest SAFE funding round in Nevada startup history, thanks in part to funding from StartUpNV. TensorWave co-founder and President Piotr Tomasik said when he was running another company 10 years ago, it was difficult to convince talent to move from Silicon Valley to Las Vegas. Today, he said, that's changed. "I've been a part of startups in Las Vegas for the last, I don't know, 15 years," Tomasik said. "It's definitely hitting a nice little crescendo." A local touch Karsten Heise, senior director of strategic programs and innovation for Nevada's Governor's Office of Economic Development, attributed some - but not all - of Las Vegas's startup growth to GOED's 2011 founding. The office has since worked to diversify the state's economy, including by strengthening infrastructure for entrepreneurs and startups. "We didn't have in place, say, a decade ago, entrepreneur support organizations like StartUpNV, for example, that ran accelerators," Heise said. "Now you have that in place, and you have more than just one." Battle Born Growth Escalator, Nevada's state-administered, federally-funded venture capital program, matches a portion of funding startups raise from venture capital firms - up to $750,000 for Lucihub - a significant boon for the state's entrepreneurs, according to Saling. GOED spearheads several initiatives promoting small business development, such as by supporting Las Vegas accelerator Zero Labs, with the goal of bolstering Nevada's high-tech sector. The convergence of highly-skilled workers moving to Nevada and increased venture capital availability has contributed to the state's rapid startup ecosystem growth, according to Kyle Ferguson, chief program officer of the Battle Born Growth Venture Capital Fund. "We're seeing a match where there's money available for good ideas to start in Las Vegas and other parts of Nevada," Ferguson said. "Over the last 10 to 15 years we've seen that diversification, not only in companies coming, but also types of investors that are coming to the area." Nevada isn't only following national trends, Ferguson added. The state is seeing an influx of medical device manufacturing and battery technology. In November, GOED and UNLV partnered with a global venture firm to create the Electrify Nevada Accelerator to support Nevada startups in battery technology and sustainable energy. As the office establishes new programs and partnerships, its goal remains to support innovation and remove barriers for Nevada entrepreneurs to raise capital, Heise and Ferguson said. 'Build your company in Nevada' Las Vegas and Reno are quickly emerging as future tech hubs, largely due to relatively affordable housing costs, a growing talent pool, significant funding opportunities, strong government support and the state's lack of corporate income tax. With a deluge of optimistic reports from UNLV, StartUpNV, GOED and others, Nevada must attract startups that actually create jobs and build the local economy, Ferguson said. "We want to see battery manufacturers; we want to see people that are buying buildings, that are hiring people, that are going to really plant their feet in Las Vegas and in the state," Ferguson said. To increase the ecosystem's sustainability, Ferguson and Heise said, GOED aims to attract out-of-state investment in Nevada's companies in order to attract businesses to the state, increase activity in the deep tech sector and enhance collaboration among venture capital. "Build your company in Nevada," Heise said. "You can license a technology from a federal lab in Ohio or in New Mexico, but build your company in Nevada. It's business friendly. Capital is here for you." ___ Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Elle
16-07-2025
- Elle
How Dylan O'Brien and Rachael Lange Hard-Launched Their Private Romance on Instagram
Actor Dylan O'Brien is best known for his roles on MTV's Teen Wolf and in The Maze Runner, with a cemented status as a Hollywood heartthrob. Offscreen, he's been seeing model Rachael Lange for the last two years, but they share very little about their relationship in public. Proof of their relationship primarily exists on Lange's Instagram feed. Here's everything to know about Rachael Lange and her relationship with Dylan O'Brien so far. Rachael Lange lives and works in New York City, and has worked as as a model with Elite New York. She now has a career as a photographer and herbalist. On her photography website, she writes about discovering photography as an art form: Lange shared photos of O'Brien picking flowers on her photography Instagram in April 2025 post, writing, 'Lover in the tulip fields.' The pictures look like they could have been taken in Amsterdam—and O'Brien and Lange certainly travel a lot as a couple. They visited Japan in July 2024: Then went to Thailand in April 2025: Lange is very interested in nutrition and herbal medicine, and frequently shares her recipes online: As well as footage from harvest and preparing herbs: In January 2023, the pair was seen holding hands at Paris Fashion Week, Entertainment Tonight reported at the time. O'Brien made his first appearance on her Instagram in October 2023, in a carousel captioned, 'Really cute fall things.' It included a photo of O'Brien pulling a cart with their pumpkins and smiling over his shoulder at her. He appeared in another video she shared in December, kissing her cheek by the Christmas tree. They have not made any appearances at official events or red carpets, but they were photographed at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2025. They were most recently seen in New York City in May 2025. Instagram gossip page DeuxMoi shared photos of them walking their dog before stopping for a passionate kiss in the park. On May 18, O'Brien made another appearance on Lange's Instagram page, kissing her on the cheek as she smiles.
