Sacramento, Calif. – The Entertainment Union Coalition (EUC), a coalition of California IATSE Council (CIC), Directors Guild of America (DGA), International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 399, LiUNA Local 724, and SAG-AFTRA, today issued the following statement:
“As a coalition that represents working men and women of the entertainment industry, we are elated that the California film and television production tax credit program has been extended through 2025. Our members are those who lose when film and television production leaves this state and they are also the direct beneficiaries when it returns to and stays in California.
“In 2014, when we worked to enact the California Film and Television Tax Credit Program 2.0, we told the state legislature it would bring production back and reverse the dismal lack of work our members faced. Now, four years after the 2.0 program launched, more than 45,000 of our working California members have been re-employed or employed, with $ 2.3 billion in wages paid to below-the-line workers.
“We thank Gov. Brown for his support in signing SB 871. We thank the bill’s authors, Majority Leader Ian Calderon and Senator Holly Mitchell, for standing steadfastly with us from the beginning and getting us to where we are today, and Senate Pro Tempore Atkins and Speaker Anthony Rendon for helping ensure this program was part of the 2018 California budget. As productions continue to shoot in California, our members now know they can earn a living and stay with their families--well into the future.”
About the Entertainment Union Coalition
The members of the EUC are: California IATSE Council; Directors Guild of America; International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 399; Laborers’ International Union of North America, Local 724; and SAG-AFTRA.
About SAG-AFTRA
SAG-AFTRA represents approximately 160,000 actors, announcers, broadcast journalists, dancers, DJs, news writers, news editors, program hosts, puppeteers, recording artists, singers, stunt performers, voiceover artists and other entertainment and media professionals. SAG-AFTRA members are the faces and voices that entertain and inform America and the world. A proud affiliate of the AFL-CIO, SAG-AFTRA has national offices in Los Angeles and New York and local offices nationwide representing members working together to secure the strongest protections for entertainment and media artists into the 21st century and beyond. Visit SAG-AFTRA online at SAGAFTRA.org.