A-list Celebrity and New Las Vegas Resident Mark Wahlberg made headlines by saying he wants Las Vegas to become "Hollywood 2.0."

Could Southern Nevada become the next Hollywood?

That's this week on Nevada Week .

♪♪♪ Support for Nevada Week is provided by Senator William H. Hernstadt.

-Welcome to Nevada Week.

I'm Maria Silva filling in for Amber Renee Dixon who is on maternity leave.

Thanks for joining us.

We'll check in on the state of Southern Nevada's film industry in a moment.

But first, a new art house theater has opened in Las Vegas.

The Beverly Theater will offer one-of-a-kind content and programming, including independent films, live music, and literary events.

I got the chance to visit The Beverly Theater just a few days before its big grand opening.

The Beverly Theater is officially open for business in downtown Las Vegas.

Inside the beautiful two-storey more than 14,000 square foot state-of-the-art filmhouse, storytelling arena, and live music venue, you will find a main theater featuring a 260 square foot screen and nearly 150 retractable seats, a jazz terrace with stunning views, and a cozy courtyard.

The Beverly Theater, the first arthouse built from the ground up.

-Ladies and gentlemen, make some noise for The Beverly Theater!

-The Beverly Theater's mission: to stage uncommon cinematic, literary, and live experiences.

We got a front-row seat when we sat down with Founder and Namesake Beverly Rogers.

Beverly, to see this, The Beverly Theater, is it surreal?

What are you feeling?

(Beverly Rogers) Surreal is a really good word.

I love seeing-- I love the red.

I love the background.

I love the "Vegas-y-ness" of it.

It's beautiful.

When I look back, it's the time went so fast.

And other times I think about it, it seems like we've always been in the building stage.

So all of a sudden, it's-- it's real.

And I can start next week thinking about, I'm going to the movies.

Oh, you can't find me?

Sorry, I'm at the movies.

-And this is a true arthouse.

So tell us what else we'll be able to experience when we come to The Beverly.

-Film, whether it's independent film, foreign film, films that are hard to find, or maybe just have come to Las Vegas for three days.

And you gotta be lucky enough to find them in that three days.

Also, we want to do things like bring in people to do question and answer sessions about the film, like we're going to do with, with Killer Films on the opening night.

And we also want to work with the University and their film department and Las Vegas Academy, which has a budding film department.

We've already lined up with to do things with them.

We want to start being able to help some of their students have accredited programs or some kind of internships with us.

Those kinds of things.

We also want to work with the-- We'll be working with the Writer's Block as far as literary events and readings and having authors in.

They've had a space there for a long time, but will now have a bigger space and be able to bring in writers who are on the circuit promoting their books and who haven't had a suitable place to come formerly.

We have Kip's whole music programming.

-That Kip, Kip Kelly, founding creative director and chief experience officer who is as passionate about The Beverly Theater, well, as Beverly.

(Kip Kelly) What it means to be an independent theater is, first and foremost, we are shining a light on independent voices and independent arts.

We are also independently owned and operated.

The Rogers Foundation is not a theatre conglomerate.

We don't have a giant concert promoter.

We're not a part of a national booking circuit.

We are programming for Las Vegas for the community, and we think it's important that that programming comes from right here and not some corporate office across the country.

-The attention to detail: Again, when I walked in, one of the first things that I noticed as I was walking in, and right to the right, you're an entertainer at heart.

I saw those adorable photos, your baby photo and you and your little tap shoes.

Let's talk about that.

-Okay.

Let's not talk about that.

-Let's talk about it.

-Kip said, "Hey, we have this frame.

Do you have something to put in it?"

[laughter] -I said, "Well, I was a showgirl once.

That's my--" [laughter] I think I was six in that picture.

-Now, another thing that I did notice up there as well, and it was a saying that says, "If you've seen it all, close your eyes."

So when you close your eyes-- not that you want people to close their eyes when they come to a movie theater.

But when you close your eyes and walk--come with me on this trip, on this journey--what do you envision for the Beverly?

-Oh, my gosh!

I envision, again, the things that I count toward success of this theater will be, one, the community coming and participating.

And by that, I mean come to the literary events and ask questions and leave your desires.

Tell people-- tell us what you're interested in.

And obviously, the other thing that matters is just people coming and hanging out at Segway and having a drink and listening to music and, you know, come just, just participate.

Come and communicate as the sign next door says.

And be a part of the whole film, music, and literary scene.

-Well, Mark Wahlberg has told multiple media outlets that he moved to Southern Nevada to spend more time with his kids and give them a better life.

Now, last September, he also told "Lights, Camera, Vegas" host Rachel Smith that he wants to build a film studio and make Las Vegas, quote, Hollywood 2.0, end quote.

But is that something that is already happening even without his star power?

Well, joining us to talk about the state of the film industry in Nevada are Andi Isaacs, veteran Hollywood production executive and now Associate Professor of Film at UNLV.

Go Rebels!

And Danette Tull, production and communications manager for the Nevada Film Office.

Thank you both so much for joining us.

I'm so happy that both of you are here.

Let's start with Mark Wahlberg.

Again, getting Nevada-- Las Vegas getting a lot of attention when he made that comment.

Now, he actually already started production here.

He just wrapped up a film.

And the Nevada Film Office tweeted this: It said, "Mark Wahlberg films, massive hit at the Plaza, other locations as well."

And it goes on to say, "We may have known a little something about this NDA."

And then you did go @mark _wahlberg, "Let's do some more soon."

This is exciting news for Nevada and the film industry.

(Danette Tull) Absolutely.

We've heard a little something about Mark Wahlberg moving here.

I mean, it's been all over the place, right?

It's no secret.

Very exciting.

We would love to see it become Hollywood 2.0.

We're 100% supportive of it.

If, you know, groundbreaking happens and, you know-- We're excited for it.

We're here to see it.

We're here.

We're all over it.

So, yeah, I think it would be amazing if that were to happen.

-And you did have that NDA, Nondisclosure Agreement.

You couldn't talk about what he was doing, but it's out now.

-It's out now.

It was kind of just a little bit of a joke on the inside, honestly, because many times when big movies come here, it's the worst kept secret in town, although you know, we've all signed an NDA.

So every now and then you'll see talent out there, you'll see the properties tweeting about it and talking about what just shot there.

It's almost kind of-- We still can't say anything.

We're just kind of sharing what's out there.

But, yeah, most of the things that come here, we can't talk about.

-Oh, okay.

Andi, you have some other great productions.

We'll talk about that in just a little bit.

First of all, welcome to Las Vegas.

You've only been here since November.

You've been in the business for many, many years.

Talk about your background and what you think of when you hear somebody say they want to make Las Vegas Hollywood 2.0.

(Andi Isaacs) I actually started as a coffee person on Bonfire of the Vanities and kind of worked my way up.

Eventually, I was the head of physical production for Summit Entertainment.

So we made all the Twilight movies, and I was at Disney before then as a production executive.

I really am a kind of logistics and business and finance person when it comes to how we make the actual films.

And I love the idea of Las Vegas becoming Hollywood 2.0.

It's really kind of poised for it.

There's a lot of locations available.

When you're thinking about becoming a production center, it's not just going to be about the Strip.

We have really beautiful parks and schools and just so many different areas that you can go to.

And interior spaces and-- But I think, to be quite honest, the most important thing about creating that kind of production center is going to revolve around a tax incentive, a slowly growing sustainable tax incentive.

And that's a big deal.

And let's talk about that.

Because on your website, it does say, you know, "Comparing tax incentives is like comparing apples and oranges."

What needs to improve when it comes to our tax incentives?

-Sure.

So our program, honestly, is not as competitive as programs in other states.

And we do see some runaway production because of that.

So if you were to give the analogy of a football game, for example, our state is still sort of in the bleachers in terms of that process.

So we're looking to just improve it enough to get out there, get in the field, play the game.

-And what do you think, Andi, needs to be done?

-I think it's actually in a really good place right now.

For me, the way that I believe that it becomes sustainable is that it has to be an economic development.

It has to grow slowly.

You can't just have a giant movie ride in and take your entire fund.

So capping the productions and the refunds that are available for the productions is key.

And it's trying to just strive to get-- What happens if you get a bunch of 20- to $30 million movies coming annually, naturally, the industry will grow.

Vendors will come.

Campers will come.

People will build stages.

But most importantly, it brings a lot of money into the state for independent filmmakers.

They get a lot of opportunity because now we have the studios coming in and union films coming in and more vendors and more equipment and all those sorts of things.

So it does bring a lot of money into the arts.

And it becomes an economic development for the state itself.

-Which is so interesting and so important more than anything, because we are really working hard to diversify our economy.

Let's talk about what you're doing.

And again, it's not just the productions coming into town, more than 400 productions.

Everything from commercial shoots to videos, music videos, what else do you have going on?

-Any sort of production that comes through here like you said, music videos, feature films, independent feature films, still photoshoots if you have-- Like Vogue Italy , they're part of the economic development as well.

And then you have all the, you know, peripheral sort of content surrounding all the sports events.

And you know, all of those things also are job creators and also content.

-And the Nevada Film Office is part of the Governor's Office of Economic Development.

Let's talk a little bit about with this legislative session, there is a bill that is being drafted right now, correct, when it comes to the film industry?

-Yes, there is a placeholder bill called SB 28, and GOED had put that forth last summer in an attempt to improve the program.

There's been a lot of community interest, a lot of upswell in the community about, about this particular issue, which is exciting.

It's not done yet.

We're at a strange position right now.

I'm actually under NDA, so I can't discuss most of it with you, but I can say that we're looking at hopefully coming up with some language that will be beneficial for the industry and for the state as well.

-And you'll be keeping a close eye on that, as well as we all will be keeping a close eye on that.

And let's talk a little bit about when it comes to comparing to, our tax incentives to other states.

We've talked off camera about New York.

We're hearing a lot about Atlanta, New Orleans.

Again, what are they offering that we're not offering?

-What people forget is that New York and Georgia and New Orleans spent a good 15 years building up their crew base, building up their vendors, building up their economy so that then they could offer a very generous rebate.

And it's worked for them.

And I think that that's the most successful plan is that you build it up to really have a production center, and then increase the, the caps and the things that are available for an incentive.

-And then for the longest time, we were hearing about Canada.

-So Canada was very smart.

When they created an incentive, they invited everybody.

And they said, "Train us."

And everybody went up to Canada and trained everybody on what to do.

And then Canada just said, "Okay.

The border is closed now.

So we have our cruise, and you can't come here anymore."

It was smart.

There's probably 30% of the production that's done out of Hollywood is done in Canada.

-Now, another thing that we had talked about is the fact that again, Nevada, we have so much desert, whereas, let's say New York.

Their infrastructure might not be able to-- -There's no room left to grow in New York or Atlanta or even New Orleans at this point.

You could build 15 soundstages here without blinking an eye.

Georgia, around 19,000 people, 19,000 crew, went to Georgia when they started the incentive.

Most of, you know, the places that have had sustainable incentives have had huge growth just in people moving to work in the industry there.

So it's definitely an economic development.

-And let's talk a little bit about Nevada, because I love your Nevada Film Office.

Your motto is: Your imagination, our locations.

And you have on your website, there's like this virtual map.

You go and you click on it to see all the different locations.

It's not just Las Vegas and Southern Nevada.

So many different locations.

-Yeah, that's right.

I mean obviously the Las Vegas Boulevard is a destination for film and for visitors too, so it's that alone brings, brings in production.

But there are so many other, to echo Andi's point.

So they're great locations.

We've got Mount Charleston, we've got lakes, we've got obviously desert, we have snow-capped mountains in Northern Nevada right now.

And a lot of people don't put that together.

"There's snow in Nevada?"

Yeah, there's actually snow in Nevada.

We've got rural areas like Ely, who has attracted production just because of the working steam train that they have up there.

So we get production throughout the state.

-And speaking of Northern Nevada, Jeremy Renner, right before his snowplow accident-- He's recovering.

We wish him the best.

He did tweet something out recently, which was a picture with some wonderful folks from Reno.

He actually shot something up there.

-Yeah.

He's a resident up there.

And they just wrapped a show recently called Rennervations , and that did hire a number of our Northern Nevada crew.

So we were excited about that.

He was just out in the media yesterday saying that show is going to be on Disney+ April 12.

So it's really exciting.

-That is exciting.

Now, I do want to get back to you real quick about locations and shooting because when we were getting prepared for this interview, we did talk a little bit about cautionary tales when it comes to those tax incentives.

And you mentioned specifically Ohio.

Let's talk about that.

-So Ohio really wanted a tax incentive.

And unfortunately, what they did was they didn't have caps.

They had a big fund, and Avengers came in and Captain America came in, and they wiped out the fund.

And there was no real economic growth.

So now they're almost nonexistent as far as tax incentives go.

I think one of the most important things-- and I know that the Film Office thinks about this-- is that it's growing at a sustainable rate.

And we're just poised to be an incredible production center.

And the actors feel very comfortable coming here.

That's something that's, you know, sure, you can go to Romania and make a movie for a 15th of what it would cost, but actors don't necessarily want to go.

And actors love coming here.

They love coming here.

It's comfortable.

It's fun.

It's a 45-minute flight.

It's really very much poised to be a huge production center.

-Oh, that's great.

Another thing I do want to talk to both of you, CinemaCon coming back to Vegas next month.

This is the official convention of the National Association of Theater Owners.

Let's talk about the future of theatrical releases.

I see a smile.

That's a good thing, right?

-I truly believe theatrical will boom again.

I think that, you know, the industry, it's like a bellows.

And most of my students are like, "What's a bellows?"

But it expands and it contracts.

And during COVID and during streaming and the popularity, it took a little while for everybody to figure out how they were going to do this.

But theatrical is like nothing else.

And the studios will definitely start concentrating on theatrical again.

The streaming is condensing and contracting.

And I just think that's fun.

I think it'll be a lot of fun.

-And there is nothing like watching a film on a big screen.

When I was at The Beverly, you saw my big smile.

That's why I was smiling, because those memories, you know?

I mean, you can watch it at home streaming, but nothing like a movie theater.

-I agree with you wholeheartedly.

I think it's great.

It's the way that movies were meant to be watched, in my opinion.

So yeah.

-And let's talk a little bit about creating opportunities for the next generation of filmmakers.

That's something that you're very passionate about.

You're doing that right now with the Moving On Club.

Let's talk about that.

-One of the things that I think film schools around the nation have started thinking about was, How do you bridge that gap from study to industry to work?

And UNLV was looking for that.

That's the, you know, it immediately became a home to me, because that's something that they really embrace.

And I teach a class of the business of Hollywood, to understand how studios work, how unions work, how production works.

But what I found was a lot of kids have to leave.

They have to move.

They have to move to California or New York or Georgia.

So I created a club called the Moving On Club, which teaches them everything from how to sign a lease to how to find a job, the entry levels that are available, and hopefully, you know, they'll go and they'll learn and we'll pass a tax incentive and they'll come back here and make movies for the rest of their lives.

-I love that.

That's a good movie.

I'm envisioning that's gonna be a great movie with a great outcome because again, UNLV's film program has grown throughout the years, and it's been so wonderful to see so many success stories coming out of UNLV.

DeCastro Sisters, shout out to them.

Real quick: Oscar Week, hosted by Las Vegas' own Jimmy Kimmel.

Some fun facts about movies shot here in Las Vegas, in Southern Nevada?

-Sure.

Some people don't know, but Nevada has four Oscar-winning films that have shot here for Best Picture Oscars: One is Godfather I ; the sequel, Godfather II ; Rain Man ; and Nomadland .

So Nevada-based films, but partially shot here.

-Okay.

So we have about a minute.

So I need to ask your favorite films or productions or music videos filmed in Las Vegas.

Who wants to go first?

-Mine is The Godfather .

There's no denying it.

-I'm gonna have to go with The Godfather .

-Really?

Okay.

That's interesting.

Don't judge me.

Comedy-wise, I have to say Austin Powers International Man of Mystery .

[laughter] -That's great.

-And Fools Rush In with Salma Hayek because actually was-- Many, many moons ago, I was an extra in that movie.

You see the back of my head.

[laughter] -Excellent!

-But again, it's been great to see how Las Vegas, again-- So many films, and that's the beauty of our city and our state is that we're internationally known.

I remember watching Mexican novelas, Selena novelas, soap operas.

And they were, "Vamos a Las Vegas!"

And sure enough, they come to Las Vegas, right?

-Yeah.

There's always a reason to write that in the script, right?

Even if it has nothing to do with the movie at all, they'll figure a way in reality shows especially to, like, "Let's go to Vegas for the weekend," or-- Yeah.

There's always a reason to come to Vegas, which is why we get so much production surrounding Las Vegas Boulevard.

-Thank you so much for being here.

Again, something we're also very passionate about, and this is a callout to Mark Wahlberg, right?

We're going to hold him accountable.

-If you're watching-- I'm sorry, this camera.

If you're watching, have your people call our people.

-While the film industry in the state wants to see changes to the tax credit structure, those kinds of changes usually come with a big debate.

And as we just heard, it's likely to be one of many, many bills we'll see introduced this legislative session up in Carson City.

And joining us now with the latest on this state legislature is Sean Golonka, reporter with The Nevada Independent .

Thanks so much for joining us, Sean.

-Thanks, Maria.

I'm glad to be here.

-Now, we are in, let's see, the first month, right?

A month has already passed.

The 82nd Session of the Nevada Legislature kicked off.

A lot going on.

Some important deadlines coming up in March.

Let's talk about those deadlines.

-Right.

So we're only a month in, and we're approaching mid-March.

Coming up March 20th is the first major deadline.

That's for legislators to introduce their bills.

And then just one week after that, March 27 is the deadline for all bill introductions.

So basically, any bills must be introduced within the next couple of weeks.

-And let's talk about this.

We're not talking about just like 10, 20, 30 bills; we're talking hundreds of bills.

-Right, exactly.

So already within the first month, lawmakers have introduced more than 500 bills.

And already there have been another 500, 600 or so that have been requested for drafting, but have not yet been introduced.

And so there's a short timeframe to get those actually introduced.

-And Sean, when we talk about these bills being introduced, we do tend to hear some very emotional testimony.

And yesterday was one of those days with AB 125, a bill that's directly impacting our indigenous communities here in Nevada.

-Right.

And so that is about murdered and missing indigenous women.

And really, it's about accountability and making sure that we're keeping track of those women, because there's really a lack of data, you know, tracking that kind of criminal activity.

-And Sean, that's an issue that impacts not just women, indigenous women here in Nevada, but throughout the country, one of many issues that we'll be hearing about.

Just last month, it was Nevada Tribes Legislative Day on February 14th.

Let's talk a little bit about some of the other key issues in legislation that will be introduced when it comes to our indigenous community here in Nevada.

-Right.

So I think one key piece of legislation for that community is a bill that would expand tuition waivers for tribal students, basically waiving any tuition fees for those students seeking to attend a university or college in Nevada.

I think a little more broadly, we're seeing bills that deal with representation in government.

You know, for so long, these indigenous communities have been shut out of the conversations.

They've been shut out of, you know, just governance in the state.

And so we're seeing bills that would put more tribal liaisons in state government to communicate with those communities.

-And let's talk about some of our tribal leaders.

They worked very hard to get Avi Kwa' Ame designated as a national monument.

We had heard that President Joe Biden was coming, is coming into Las Vegas, Southern Nevada.

On the 14th of March, he was scheduled to designate it as an official monument.

Then all of a sudden that changed.

What happened?

-You know, I'm not-- I'm not quite sure why we saw that flip-flop.

Based on what we know, that President Joe Biden will be talking about prescription drug pricing and that this is part of a larger Western states trip for the President, I imagine this is kind of the ramp up to his reelection campaign.

And he's talking about some key policy goals rather than the national monument.

-And what we are hearing is that he is hosting a private fundraiser, correct?

Is that what you're hearing as well?

-Yes, I have heard that.

-And let's talk a little bit.

Last time when your colleague, your wonderful colleague Tabitha was on, we were talking about Tesla.

They're continuing to make headlines.

They are getting more than $330 million in tax abatements.

Those are tax breaks.

What's going on?

What's the latest with that?

-So I've been covering this closely.

And that was really the last development is the Governor's Office of Economic Development Board approved those pretty substantial tax breaks for the company as they look to expand the Nevada Gigafactory.

And now they're basically proceeding with that process.

But some Democratic lawmakers have said, We want to weigh in.

Senator Dina Neal plans to bring forward a bill that would grant the legislature process, or power of the abatement process, rather than the executive branch.

-And let's talk about this because you guys are really good about separating fact from fiction.

And one of the big things that's said, Is the Governor-- Is the State giving money to Tesla?

That is not the case, correct?

They're getting tax breaks.

-Right.

This is a very different thing.

The government is not giving any sort of taxpayer money to Tesla.

Basically what a tax abatement is, is a reduction in the tax rate that the company pays over a set number of years.

So for example, with this newest expansion, the company will not be paying any property taxes for 10 years.

But they're not receiving any money from the state.

-And Tesla is not the only company that will benefit from this?

-Exactly.

Tesla is the only company to benefit from it on this scale, this massive multibillion dollar scale, but other companies are granted tax abatements a lot of the time.

-Now, I do want to talk a little bit about what's going on in a few weeks, Indie Talks.

- Right.

So Indie Talks March 21st in Reno.

We're going to be having a conversation with four legislative leaders: Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager, Assembly Minority Leader P.K.

O'Neill, Senate Minority Leader Heidi Seevers Gansert, and Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro.

All together in Reno March 21 just to have a conversation about the legislature.

-And another great thing that I love about you guys is the fact that you are keeping us informed, everything that's happening with the Nevada legislature.

I love your-- the way you help us track those bills and keep up to date on what's going on.

You have a great resource on your website.

-Yeah.

So we are tracking bills and policy discussions.

We have a policy tracker that also includes a spreadsheet tracker of specific bills.

And we're keeping those up-to-date with latest developments in the session.

-Sean, thanks again for joining us.

We'll check in back with you guys in about two weeks.

And thank you at home for joining us for this edition of Nevada Week.

For any of the resources discussed on today's show, go to our website vegaspbs.org/nevadaweek.

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