Northern Nevada is no stranger to the movie industry. John Wayne acted in his last movie in "The Shootist", filmed in Carson City. Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe made their last movie, "The Misfits" in Dayton, Pyramid Lake and Reno. Douglas County is hoping to get more production companies to come to the area.
"We have an economy that could be very cost effective for them," Lynn O'Mara, Director of Communications for Northern Nevada Development Authority. "Plus, we have very unique, one-of-a-kind locations and we also have a film office that can be supportive."
Douglas County is the backdrop for movies like "Misery", "The Wizard" and "Smokin' Aces". Officials say the variety of landscapes is a big reason why movie makers would be interested. They could make movies at Lake Tahoe, Topaz Lake, in the desert or ranchland, and even downtown Minden, Gardnerville and Genoa.
"We already have the iconic locations, we already have the spectacular backdrops," Lisa Granahan, Economic Vitality Manager for Douglas County said. "So that is just another opportunity to bring more business in."
Granahan says the film industry would help diversify Douglas County's economy and bring in more tourism and money.
"We're getting national attention and marketing for those," Granahan said. "Free dollars, right? Because those have a national audience."
Nevada offers a tax credit for movies that meet certain qualifications. Granahan says the county supports similar tax credits for the manufacturing industry, so it would look into that possibility to bring movies to its communities. The NNDA says Nevada's film industry created 3,052 jobs in 2018, and that it can inject as much as $250,000 a day into local economies.
"We really are going for a win-win situation here," O'Mara said. "A win for the state, a win for the county, a win for our region, and of course for the production companies that come in."
O'Mara says one company has approached them about possibly creating a series in Douglas County, but that wouldn't happen for quite some time.
"Most people would probably not associate Nevada, let alone that area with series potential," O'Mara said. "However, that may come out of this and that will be good, too."
Douglas County is working with the NNDA and The Nevada Film Office to make this idea become a reality. O'Mara says if things go well, movie productions could begin in about a year.Â
"Whoever wants to come in, we will work with them and we welcome them to showcase our region as part of their project," O'Mara said.
As streaming services like Netflix and Amazon grow, Granahan says some of those could be candidates to film in Douglas County. She also points out that it has been the location of other TV shows.
"We've had some series filmed here, too," Granahan said. "For example, fairly recently, "The Bachelor" up at Lake Tahoe up at the Hard Rock and Hell's Kitchen."
No matter where production happens in the county, Granahan says the community will welcome the film industry with open arms.
"I think we're more than happy to share our beautiful community with the rest of the film industry and the larger venue because we have so much to offer here," Granahan said.
Along with movies and television, the Nevada Film Office provides resources music videos and video games. Officials say they will embrace any of those to bring more diversity to the economy, and that locals like the idea of putting their communities on display.
