California Film Incentive Keeping State Competitive

As this article was written, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the community health and economic security of greater Los Angeles. Posing unique threats to the film, television and commercial production capital of the world, the recent COVID surge, tragic loss of life and necessary pause of film production has led many to wonder about the future of L.A.’s signature industry.

That is why today, even as the pandemic casts a chill over local production, it’s important we recognize a forward-thinking state initiative encouraging filmmakers to invest in California. That initiative is the California Film & Television Tax Credit Program — now in its third iteration — and its record of bringing jobs and other opportunities to the Golden State is something to celebrate, even in these challenging times.

“As the voice of media performers, SAG-AFTRA has been a stalwart advocate for robust, competitive tax incentives to retain and bring filmed projects to California,” said SAG-AFTRA Los Angeles Local Executive Director Ilyanne Morden Kichaven. “As we rise to meet the challenge of COVID-19, we are encouraged knowing that Californians support our bedrock industry for the long term.” 

In late December, the California Film Commission issued a progress report highlighting the program’s achievements. The really good news: Over the last five years, the incentive generated approximately $11.2 billion in direct production spending in the state, including $4 billion in wages paid to below-the-line crew and $3.6 billion in payments to in-state vendors.  

New projects will generate significant long-term spending and employment, and many have chosen to locate within the greater L.A. area, where the state’s talent pool, crew base and production support infrastructure is concentrated. 

Two of the newest projects to relocate to California include the Amazon Prime war crime drama Hunters, which filmed in New York, and the Disney+ historical drama The Right Stuff from Florida. Both shows moved to California for their second seasons. Hunters will film in Los Angeles, while The Right Stuff will be based in San Diego. According to the California Film Commission, the presence of these two series in California will create approximately 440 California-based cast jobs and 6,056 day work opportunities for background performers across 195 planned filming days.

Hunters, which stars Al Pacino, Lena Olin and Logan Lerman, is set in the late-1970s in New York City and should have no difficulty recreating the look of that era using locations in Los Angeles, according to FilmLA. Historical dramas from the late 20th century are perennially popular with film and television audiences, and projects as diverse as Ford vs. Ferrari, Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood, Rocketman and Snowfall have all found ways to wind back the clock in California.

California’s architectural and geographic diversity consistently allow the Golden State to recreate looks and periods. As another example, the second season of FX’s American Horror Story: Asylum, which aired from Oct. 17, 2012, to Jan. 23, 2013, is set in a Massachusetts-based asylum, Briarcliff Manor, in 1964. The exteriors for the second season, however, were filmed in Ventura County, and the exterior filming of Briarcliff was done at the Old Orange County Courthouse in Santa Ana. 

The success of the California Film & Television Tax Credit Program’s ability to attract scripted television series, combined with the state’s ability to substitute a variety of locations, its depth of talent and infrastructure, gives California a unique advantage. That being said, even during COVID, competitive jurisdictions are continuing to move ahead with strong incentives and new infrastructure in hopes of competing with the Golden State. 

For more information on current COVID restrictions, please visit FilmLA’s COVID-19 Resource Center. More information on Los Angeles County’s competitive position in film, television and sound stage infrastructure can be found under “Featured Publications” at FilmLA’s website.