The Manhattan Beach Studios Group is going to Vegas.
The company, also known as MBS Group, is part of a consortium that will build and manage a 34-acre media production and multi-use facility complex at the University of Nevada – Las Vegas’s Harry Reid Research and Technology Park in the southwest section of the city.
MBS, which is based in Manhattan Beach, will manage the studio in conjunction with Birtcher Development in Newport Beach, Gardner Nevada Tech Park Studios, the university and its research foundation.
The campus will feature full-service film and television studios and facilities designed to capitalize on emerging technologies related to content creation.
MBS is owned by Hackman Capital Partners, one of the world’s largest film studio owners and operators. The firm is based in Culver City.
UNLV President Keith E. Whitfield said the school was excited to partner on the Nevada Studios Campus project.
“It complements our growing innovation ecosystem at the Tech Park and holds great potential to bring new, diverse industries to Southern Nevada and bolster our regional economy,” Whitfield said in a statement. “It will also support our region’s growing creative workforce and offer new and exciting opportunities for UNLV’s students, faculty, and innovators.”
“The Nevada Studios Campus is a signature example of what the Tech Park is intended to attract and facilitate,” Zach Miles, executive director of the UNLV Research Foundation, added in a statement.
The main 50,000-square-foot facility will be the Nevada Media Lab, a production and immersive-learning building that will provide both space and industry engagement opportunities for the UNLV film department and other academic departments at the university, according to a release on the project.
The lab will also have space to support vocational training, internship experiences and research and workforce development opportunities for K-12 and higher-education partners throughout Nevada, the release said.
MBS’s role in the project will be as managers of the studio operations.
Discussions between UNLV and MBS Group have been going on for about a
year, Jason Hariton, the chief studio and real estate officer for MBS Group, said, according to a story in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Hariton said the partnership made sense because of Las Vegas’ location and current workforce.
“As the entertainment capital of the world, with highly skilled technicians, Las Vegas is a natural choice to create a new film and television production hub to service the demands of a growing global content industry,” Hariton said in an emailed statement to the paper. “Nevada offers great proximity to Los Angeles, while also serving as an international destination for talent, and has a diverse range of filmable locations throughout the state.”
Don Snyder, a UNLV Research Foundation board member and former UNLV acting president, said he has been a big supporter of the studio project from the beginning because of what it can do for the state and the university.
“This project makes tremendous sense for Southern Nevada for many reasons, including the significant ground-lease revenue that will flow to UNLV,” Snyder said in a statement.
Execution of a lease agreement and subsequent commencement of construction is subject to the passage of the anticipated Nevada Film Studio Infrastructure Act, which will be introduced during the 2025 Nevada legislative session.
Nevada State Senator Roberta Lange, the bill’s sponsor, said, “I am eager to partner with UNLV, Birtcher Development and the MBS Group to gain legislative support in furthering economic diversification and workforce development goals in Southern Nevada, through film and television industry growth.”
