EXCLUSIVE: With a very hard out of less than two weeks, state legislators in Sacramento are either going to be Scrooge or Santa with California’s film and TV tax incentives for the near moribund L.A. industry.  

It’s a mix result right now with a lot of good intentions, a lot of cooks in the kitchen, and the legislative session ending on August 31. In the last few hours alone, with studios and indies panicked about effectively losing lucrative annual $750 million industry incentives by 2030, a bandaging of the already signed into law mega-measure that caps out business and corporate tax credits over $5 million remains went from launch to back to being stuck on the legislative tarmac.

A deal was in place Thursday morning that would have carved out exception for independent productions and some studio/streamer productions.

However, as the final language was being put in place by Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur’s office, legislative leadership told the Hollywood Democrat today they were taking a “different approach,” I’m told.

There are no definitive details on what that new approach is, or whether it could end us as a fast-tracked Trailer Bill, a policy carve out, or something else. However, sources tell me, there was indications from Governor Gavin Newsom’s “team” that Asm. Zbur’s proposal wasn’t what they had in mind.

Officially, probable 2028 POTUS candidate Newsom’s office did not have anything to say about any deal or the end of any deal. Insiders privately are referring to the effort to fix the harms of SB 122 as a “work in progress.”

As elections for City Hall and a new governor heat up, that process may not land so well in SoCal.

An already wildfire ravaged City of Angels has also seen production flight from the home of Hollywood, and around 50,000 film and TV jobs lost in the past four years. Even without projected cutback from a merged Paramount and Warner Bros Discovery, that blast radius has wiped out vendors and delivered a blow to the tax base.

Amidst all that, Asm. Zbur, whose District 51 spans all the way from Glendale to Santa Monica, says he is keeping up the fight against SB 122 with that August 31 drop dead date front and center.

“We’re working very hard with the Governor, legislative leadership, and our partners in the Senate, and I’m optimistic that we are very close to reaching a solution that helps address the impact of SB 122 on California’s Film and Television Jobs Program,” the two-term member told Deadline today.

While staying mum about what went down earlier today and acknowledging the harsh calendar, the lawyer in a past life Zbur offered optimism that the legislative tax credits SNAFU could be fixed in the next week.

“Our priority throughout these negotiations has been protecting the thousands of workers and small businesses that depend on this iconic industry and preserving the progress we’ve made to bring production and good-paying jobs back to California,” he said. “There are still details being worked through, but I’m encouraged by where the conversations are and hopeful we can reach an agreement very soon.”

Besides the limits of the June enacted SB 122, which has seen pushback from the likes of Tinseltown unions and CAA boss Bryan Lourd, there’s also the long-desired effort to enact a wide-ranging post-production tax credits program.

Hoping to both stiffen up jobs here and entice post-production to re-locate to the Golden State, the 35% incentive offering AB 2319 is racing towards a vote in the state Senate by next week once the bill is in final shape.

All of which means what ends up on outgoing Gov. Newsom’s desk to be signed or vetoed by September 30 could prove an inflection or infection point for the entertainment sector.

“The next seven days are critical,” declares Asm. Nick Schultz, who with Sen. Ben Allen is one of the primary pols behind the post-production tax credits legislation.

“We’re literally in the period of speak-now-and-forever-hold-your-peace,” the studio heavy District 44 Democrat adds. “There’s no more time to wait. Now is the time for Hollywood to activate and be as loud as they possibly can to get this thing passed.”

If everything goes to schedule, under the rules of the California legislature, once final amendments are added to the bill, it has to sit “in print” for 72 hours Then the legislation can head to a Senate floor vote – where I hear It certainly has the votes.

Earlier this year, state representatives talked out the post-production credit reaching up to $100 million in allocated incentives across VFX, scoring, mixing and more. That sky-high number is now more realistically envisioned at around $35 million for the first year.

Yet, as close as the post-production credit might be to being added to the California Film Commission administered incentives program, the reality is there is still no actual funding in place for it.

The borderline baroque $352 billion state budget is so tightly wound with its zero-deficit demands that money for such a new credit is nowhere to be seen, no matter how hard Hollywood has advocated for it and, truth be told, desperately needs it to turn the job losses around.

“We are gratified that the Senate Appropriations Committee overwhelmingly voted in favor of a standalone post-production tax credit, and we are pushing hard for its broad bipartisan support in the Senate floor vote,” Editors Guild Local 709 president F. Hudson Miller states. “We need to make sure that AB 2319 is passed, and also that it is fully funded.”

Like a true seasoned politician, the union leader went on to say: “Additionally, we are calling on lawmakers to defend the Film and TV Tax Credit Program 4.0, which would be devastated by the recently imposed caps on tax credits. All three moves are vital and essential to keeping film and TV jobs, and their positive economic effect, from leaving California.”

“Certainly, we would rather be in the spot where we have some funding and we’re going back to secure the rest of it,” Asm Schultz admits of the finances of the post-production flex. “But versus like having absolutely nothing and having to go back fresh next year asking for some initial funding, we’re going to be going through this process of advocating and hopefully negotiating with the governor’s office between January and June of next year.” 

Present deadlines in hand, a lot of this will end up with the next governor.

To that, Deadline reached out to both the campaigns of Steve Hilton and Xavier Becerra for comment.  On both the efforts to undo the tax credits cap and the ambitions for a post-comprehensive production credit. Neither the Republican and ex-Fox News host nor the Democrat and ex-Biden cabinet secretary replied.

We will update if and when we do hear from them.

Amazon is in choppy waters after accidentally leaking Jason Statham‘s latest big-budget action pic Mutiny on its Prime Video service days before the movie is released in theaters.

Deadline understands that the movie was up for a matter of hours earlier this week after a mistake led to it being posted on Prime’s product detail page that typically shows trailers.

Some subscribers couldn’t believe what they were watching. For free. One posted to X: “I’m watching Jason Statham’s new movie Mutiny, streaming on Amazon for free right now. This has to be a huge mistake, right? My theater has showtimes starting this week!”

“Someone is getting fired over at Amazon. They uploaded Jason Statham’s new movie Mutiny on Prime a day before it hits theaters,” another user said.

Lionsgate is releasing the action thriller this weekend in U.S. theaters and is one of a number of buyers understood to be very unimpressed. According to multiple sources close to the project, the film is already being pirated in different territories. That’s a problem for Lionsgate and potentially an even bigger problem for international buyers, some of whom who aren’t releasing until later. We hear the film opened well in France and Middle East yesterday before the leak snafu came to light.

Those companies, like Lionsgate, have put millions into acquiring the film and marketing it. It’s a $50 million-plus net movie. Lionsgate is understood to have paid eight-figures for it. We hear that some cinema chains are also up in arms.

Now the question we’re hearing from those close to the movie is what Amazon, a Premium VOD partner on the pic, can or will do to make good.

“This is an unprecedented situation,” one fuming international buyer told us. “It’s a major f*ck-up. I’ve never been in this situation before. What’s clear is that this is a multimillion-dollar problem for Amazon and buyers will expect a check to be written to help resolve this.”

One person who worked on the project said: “What the hell? There are serious repercussions for distributors here.” Another overseas buyer simply told us: “Oh my god.”

We understand Lionsgate’s anti-piracy team is trying to mitigate the damage. Meanwhile, international buyers are trying to coordinate a formal message to Amazon.

Jean-François Richet directs Mutiny, in which Statham is framed for murdering his billionaire industrialist boss, leaving him on the run as he works to uncover an international conspiracy. Statham produces with Marc Butan.

This isn’t the first time a streamer has got into hot water for being lax over the safety of a movie. Netflix is currently being sued for $105 million after a hard drive of an unreleased Nicolas Cage movie, the World War II thriller Fortitude, was stolen from its office. The lawsuit faults Netflix for losing the copy, but the studio has denied responsibility for the loss, saying it was delivered “without proper industry-standard safeguards.” 

Amazon, Lionsgate, reps for Statham and the film’s producers declined comment on the Mutiny leak.

Jennifer Passovoy has been named a senior producer and head of unscripted video at Pave Studios, TheWrap has exclusively learned.

The five-time Emmy-winning producer previously worked for Paramount as a supervising producer, specifically working on the teams for “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and “Ink Master.”

Starting Aug. 31, Passovoy will run a new vertical for Pave, focused on unscripted streaming series and celebrity content. She will report directly to Pave Studios founder and chief executive Max Cutler.

“Jennifer Passovoy’s work remains cemented in the human connections that she has been able to develop over her impressive career,” Cutler said in a Thursday statement. “At her core, Jennifer is a pop culture historian who understands a creator’s authentic voice while translating it into content that doesn’t just perform, but lasts.”

Previously, Passovoy worked as show lead on Pave productions “Khloé in Wonder Land” and “Horoscope Weekly: Astrology with Aliza Kelly.” At Paramount, she supported the show teams from casting and story development through to post production, specifically driving “Drag Race’s” highest-rated premiere in six years during her tenure.

“The best unscripted TV has always come down to finding people who are magnetic on camera and building a world around them. That talent is everywhere now, and most of it is coming up outside the traditional pipeline,” Passovoy shared. “Pave is built to move on that, and I look forward to applying my experience as a producer of hit unscripted TV shows to the creator economy, and working with celebrities and rising stars to tell great stories across platforms.”

Pave Studios is a media company that specializes in creator-led IP across video, audio, live experiences and more. Their vertical OpenMind produces the podcast “Khloé in Wonder Land.” Its Crime House vertical has become a leading home for premium true crime stories, and Rewind launched in 2026 around the popular history genre. The network also signed “Love on the Spectrum” star Connor Tomlinson to host one of their podcasts for the history vertical.