(a) For a period of 15 years from the beginning of operation, motion picture studios and plants which shall be established in this State on or after July 1, 1937, including all lands, buildings and chattels, whether owned by a person, firm or corporation, utilized in connection therewith, and all raw materials going into the finished products of such studios and plants, as well as the finished products or films, shall be exempt from all ad valorem taxation.
(b) The exemption authorized in this section shall not apply to real estate owned by such motion picture studios and plants except the real estate occupied as the location required to house such motion picture studios and plants and other buildings incidental to the operation of such studios and plants together with such lands as may be required for housing officers and employees, and for warehouses, laboratories, cutting rooms, projection rooms, storage, trackage, shipping facilities, sets and locations.
Code 1935, § 1258; 41 Del. Laws, c. 118, § 1; 9 Del. C. 1953, § 8106; 67 Del. Laws, c. 415, § 3; 70 Del. Laws, c. 39, § 1.