California legislators are proposing two bills that would make changes to the state’s film and TV tax credit program in an attempt to lure production back to the Golden State.
The details of the bills are still being negotiated by stakeholders, state legislators said during a press conference Wednesday afternoon at the Los Angeles headquarters of the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
But the idea is to modernize the program’s components to ensure California’s film and TV tax credit program is more competitive with other states’, Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur said during the press conference.
Key provisions under discussion include an increase to the effective rate of the program and an expansion of the kinds of productions that will qualify for film and TV tax credits, with a focus on those types that are leaving the state and provide “the best jobs,” Zbur said. Another is to ensure that underrepresented communities, such as formerly incarcerated people, have expanded pathways into production jobs.
“This is one of California’s foundational industries,” said Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, a co-sponsor of one of the bills. “It is an economic driver for the state, and also continues to amplify the cultural creativity and the storytelling that California does unlike any place in the world.”
Wednesday’s announcement comes about four months after Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled a proposal to more than double the annual amount of money allocated to the state’s film tax credit program. The program’s current total is $330 million; Newsom’s proposal would increase that amount to $750 million, making California the top state for capped film incentive programs.
