California lawmakers have begun a discussion about removing the cap on the state’s $750 million film and TV production incentive — while admitting that such a move faces serious budget hurdles. “That is a heavy lift,” lawmakers acknowledged at an Assembly committee hearing in North Hollywood on Thursday.
California State Capitol (Credits: Variety)
Why California’s $750M Film Incentive May Not Be Enough
At the hearing, union leaders and industry advocates testified that the program — which was doubled last year from $330 million to $750 million — still isn’t enough to stop the outflow of production jobs to other states. Betsy Beers, creative partner of producer Shonda Rhimes, told the committee she had planned to film a new “Grey’s Anatomy” spinoff in Santa Clarita — but the show didn’t receive a California tax credit, and production moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico.
“We lost a lot of time, and a lot of money, and now we are filming in Albuquerque,” Beers said. “We want to be here.” Because the program is capped, productions must apply during specific windows and compete against other projects using a “jobs ratio” score. The spinoff initially scored too low, and when ABC reapplied in the fall, the program was already oversubscribed.
Calls to Scrap the California Film Incentive Cap
Several speakers at the hearing called for eliminating the $750 million ceiling entirely, arguing the cap creates uncertainty that discourages productions from committing to California. FilmLA, the regional permitting agency, reported last week that overall production volume in the Los Angeles area continues to fall — even though the share of scripted TV shows receiving a state subsidy has nearly doubled.
For now, removing the cap remains an early-stage discussion, with California’s budget pressures looming large. But the hearing underscored a growing consensus in Hollywood: even a record $750 million isn’t enough to keep productions from leaving the state.
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Source: Variety — read the full story there.
