Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
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DESERT PATROL He may look like a star on a Hollywood backlot, but from his Downtown perch, Trent Othick is luring movies to Vegas. Othick, 41, a down-to-earth Las Vegas native, is tall and talkative, with movie-star looks. We're in his Los Angeles satellite office, lined with posters of his productions, as he periodically takes calls from veteran screenwriters like George Gallo (Midnight Run) and Othick's partner Michael Corrente, who produced the Farrelly brothers movie Outside Providence. Last year the Nevada Legislature passed tax incentives for films that shoot in the state, expanding opportunities for the movie business locally. Othick, whose Neil LaBute – Neighborhood directed film Some Velvet Morning opened in hangout: "I occasionally have December to stellar reviews, is currently in business meetings talks with Las Vegas resident Nicolas Cage, at Red Rock Hotel Ethan Hawke, and other big stars to produce & Casino, but it movies here. He already has at least a coumight also involve ple of Nevada-based projects coming this watching Monday Night Football." year, including "a noir film that will make Alternate ominous use of the desert," he says. hangout: "Any As a matter of fact, Othick is tight with baseball diamond, Downtown mogul Tony Hsieh, whose Silver soccer field, or State Production Services helps movie projbasketball gym ects develop from the ground up. It was where one of my three kids is cofounded by former Othick employee playing." Christopher Ramirez, and they may soon help build a little village of creative offices for the city's film players. Othick lives in Las Vegas with his wife and three kids, but he was also born and raised here, the son of a professional gambler. "So the risky field of entertainment and independent film is essentially a straight job for me," he jokes. He got his start after dropping out of Whittier Law School and meeting industry people in LA, including director Jesse Dylan (Kicking and Screaming), Bob Dylan's son. Othick's father-in-law, film and television director Robert Lieberman, helped him get his first meeting with reality-show impresario Mark Burnett, who cocreated The Casino. Today, Othick's Nevada-based company, GO Productions—which counts casino operator John Gaughan, a childhood friend, as a partner—does repeat business with producers of successful films like The Hurt Locker and Don Jon and has numerous Las Vegas backers. "Vegas has always had a relationship with Hollywood," says Othick. "With this tax incentive, we can see a studio being built here. The future for making films in Vegas is finally as bright as the lights on the Strip." V Roll 'Em PRODUCER TRENT OTHICK IS MAKING VEGAS FILM PRODUCTION A GO. BY ADAM BAER "O ur city is the place that you think about movie people partying, on and off the screen," says Las Vegas –based producer Trent Othick, who brought A Bronx Tale to Broadway and Venetian and produced the reality show The Casino, about the Golden Nugget. "Now Vegas is going to be the place where we can actually make films, not just shoot for a day to do casino exteriors." 40 PHOTOGRAPHY BY MELISSA VALLADARES INSIGHT VEGASMAGAZINE.COM 040_V_SP_DP_Winter14.indd 40 1/10/14 10:52 AM