We have reached out to many different parties to find solutions for building Babs Do Studios. Some have been helpful, others hopeful for our future, and there are times when we run into gates and solid walls that simply confound us, particularly in the form of lack of vision and foresight. As we have shared our struggles with finding solutions to build our studios in Nevada, including proposals for development deals with cities, complex site conversions, and partnerships with other up and coming studio developers, the key missing factor is new incentives for film studio construction in place that would enable traditional pathways and opportunities for financing infrastructure development. With new bills about to be presented in the coming months, we can only hope that at least one of the Nevada bills presents a solution that benefits all artists and potential studio builders going forward.

Since opening up our development towards becoming a potentially nationwide endeavor for national infrastructure, we have been having discussions with other states and areas to see what can be done. This is to possibly present a second site for Babs Do Studios to begin our multi-state infrastructure or, in case Nevada’s 2025 push for new film tax incentives doesn’t work out for whatever reason, a new starting point for Babs Do Studios outside of Nevada.

This recent tweet about one of our experiences discussing Babs Do Studios with a state film commission and economic development department showcases some of the issues that need to be addressed to clear the way for new innovation and development of film and media infrastructure:

“An example of state governments getting in their own way against innovation and economic growth, we had a discussion with a state film commission recently that essentially said that for starting a business in film, you need to be a multi-millionaire already. The problem is, we were discussing film studios that were for sale in their state that are failing because they were dependent on consistent Hollywood film production that just isn’t coming anymore.

We wanted to potentially come in and fix that for the state by acquiring those already built studios under Babs Do Studios and establish new local production work that would revitalize the local work force, help provide professional training, and boost the state’s economy. The facts are that there aren’t that many multi-millionaires with the training, expertise, and simply even the interest for building/running a film studio and if there were, there wouldn’t be studios for sale in that state.

However, we are completely trained and interested with a business plan in hand to take over what is literally a turnkey film studio that’s already built in their state but despite a healthy film tax incentive program that is apparently not being used nearly as much as it was before, the state won’t help at all even though the income for the state generated by the added and completely local film and media business would far exceed any initial investment or incentives to help us to acquire and start up even just one of the studios again that are for sale.

So, how do they expect anyone to even get a start there and grow the state’s film and media infrastructure with this mentality and extreme barrier to entry? At this rate, the reportedly “newer” studios that these are will be torn down or turned into warehouse spaces and the state ends up with greatly reduced infrastructure and loss of industry. This needs to change, especially for an industry that requires so much up front investment but has amazing potential for major benefits across multiple industries.”

Chicken or the Egg?

This discussion also emphasizes the current “Chicken or the Egg” dilemma we keep running into when it comes to financing film studio construction and even film production. In addition to requirements for local hiring, some programs require minimum spending limits to apply for their programs and others require as much as 70-percent of production financing to be secured independently or from investors before applying for state film tax incentives and sometimes all of the above. These restrictions placed on film tax incentive programs are in place for a multitude of perceived reasons, primarily to prevent abusing the program’s funds with frivolous spending and to eliminate potential monopolies on production from one or more companies. Whether these issues are possible or not, as there is always a comprehensive approval process, it makes some film tax incentive programs difficult to apply for and even impossible for certain kinds of productions, particularly lower budget independent artists. As it is already a struggle for even major film studios to secure funding on projects, including new studio developments, one has to to wonder where modern production financing begins, with investors or with incentives?

Babs Do Productions ideally would not have to rely on film production incentives due to the anticipated revenue from its business operations under Babs Do Studios, freeing up state incentive program funds to be utilized by its clients and we would only utilize a state program for our most significant high end projects. This plan would work for our situation but for our potential clients and independent artists without their own studios in general, the entire process changes towards independents having to find investors, crowd funding, and self-funding measures to secure enough production financing to make their projects. However, in an unexpected downturn in the economy when investors have closed off, banks aren’t lending as often, crowd funding becomes stagnant, and many are living paycheck to paycheck, the flaws in the film tax incentive process begin to show.

So far in our discussions, even possible incentives for film and media infrastructure development are seen in this “independent” way with sometimes as little as $5,000 being awarded by state-sponsored small business programs which fall incredibly short when trying to build a project with around $4 Million Dollars alone being spent on a large Virtual Production LED wall stage for new age blockbuster film production. Studio development is not something that can be crowd funded, investors must be willing to understand the needs of the film and media industry, and banks have to consider the long term outlook for supporting loans for film production and studio construction that provide significant revenue over time. Once again, this exposes the “Chicken or the Egg” scenario when states want film production and film and media development but don’t have programs or legislation in place to facilitate regular production or new construction, renovation, or redevelopment by anyone. That is, unless they are already a “multi-millionaire”.

One Ideal Change

To meet the growing interest and demand for new production and studio space in the industry, the question needs to be asked whether it would be better to universally offer incentives on a more upfront basis for the sake of securing funding rather than to ask for the funding to be in place first before applying for incentives. This way, approved projects can have a solution to financing right away and film and media infrastructure projects can be developed and built in less time without the potential years long search for investors.

This one change in strategy for film and media tax incentives can be the solution for many that have been affected by the post-strike Hollywood production slowdown that is affecting the entire industry and causing years long delays in completed project releases and new project starts, massive loss of jobs and independent businesses, film studio developments to stagnate and even go up for sale across the country, major slowdown in related businesses such as movie theaters, and perhaps far more troubling, continued drops in sales across the entire electronics industry as a whole. It would also combat the push for moving film and media production overseas to modern international studios and their increasingly attractive global production incentives. Adding to this dilemma are new calls for Hollywood studios to keep production in California with new Multi-Billion Dollar studio developments and a possible significant boost to California’s own film tax incentive program which could make the situation in production-dependent states even worse.

With a systemic business development like Babs Do Studios, especially on a multi-state or even nationwide scale, production dependence and infrastructure would not be a problem and interoperability with existing studio developments and independent production companies would be seamless. However, if even our new age development cannot get the funding necessary to help solve a significant amount of the industry’s problems as they are, then the outlook for every single industry involved in entertainment looks increasingly dire as business continues to move on a downward slope without new innovation and business.

Innovation Is Key

A number of cities, states, and countries internationally are redefining the process for building new studios with tailored programs and financing deals to help them get their start. Whether it is granting government-owned properties, land, or creating unique loan solutions for site redevelopment, there are multiple built and soon to be built studio developments taking shape across the country and abroad, both big and small. The State of New Jersey just gave Netflix $387 Million Dollars in tax incentives to build and operate their new studios for at least 10 years in the state, making this the latest development in state incentivized studio construction that makes the case for providing far more significant incentives for film and media infrastructure development as compared to regular film and media production.

If states keep waiting for the right “multi-millionaire” or the right project to invent a solution for in order to enable film and media development in their state, then the entertainment industry of the United States of America will no longer be classified as “world leading” and will fall well behind the international stage that is enacting decisive action on a consistent basis to bring in Hollywood productions to their countries. What becomes clear is that state governments will have to consider the bigger picture outlook when it comes to film and media infrastructure and, increased incentives or not, ultimately working towards bringing about fundamental change and simplification of the financing aspects of the film and media industry in both development and production will be the best path forward and Babs Do Studios will be there to help.