Apple TV+’s The Studio and a new HBO series from Larry David headline the first round of subsidies to Hollywood after California’s historic expansion of the state’s entertainment tax credit program, designed to woo productions back to their cultural home.
In total, 22 TV productions will get $256 million in incentives for shooting in California, the film commission announced on Wednesday. They’re projected to generate $1.1 billion in economic activity across multiple industries with ties to the entertainment industry and employ 6,500 cast and crew members, as well as 46,100 background performers. Most of the filming is expected to take place in Los Angeles, where workers have been experiencing a shortage of jobs since the dual writers and actors strikes.
This allotment of subsidies saw a nearly 400 percent increase in applications, according to the film commission. The main changes to the program reflect its increased popularity: the increase of the total cap from $330 million to $750 million; the 35 percent base credit; the expansion of the category of productions that qualify to include shorter TV shows, sitcoms, animated titles and large-scale competition shows.
“California has long been the entertainment capital of the world — and the newly expanded film and TV tax credit program is keeping it that way,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom in a statement. “This program means paychecks for middle-class workers, opportunities for small businesses and investment in communities up and down the state. We’re not just protecting our legacy — we’re reminding the world why the Golden State remains the beating heart of film and television.”
Other shows that will receive tax credits include a new 20th Television drama from This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman, Warner Bros. Television’s Presumed Innocent, Sony Pictures Television’s SWAT Exiles, CBS Studios’s NCIS Origins and Group Chat, and a 20th Television pilot from Kenya Barris.
“As an L.A. native, I feel lucky to have been able to shoot so many projects here throughout my career and love that we’ll be able to continue spotlighting our incredible city, its people and the culture,” Barris said in a statement. “Not only does this credit allow us to work with the best crews and craftspeople around but, more importantly, it allows us to create jobs and support the LA film community at a time when it’s more important than ever.”
A main tenet of the changes to California’s program involved swaying TV shows, long an anchor of production in the region, to shoot in the state. There’s a separate incentive for productions that relocate from another state to California, which Tom Segura’s Netflix series Bad Thoughts is taking advantage of as it moves away from Texas.
California has steadily been losing production as other regions beef up their incentive programs in a race to host Hollywood. One example: In June, Texas passed a law that increased by $100 million the amount allotted to movies and TV shows every two years.