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.

By the time Hacks reached its fifth and final season, Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) was still Deborah Vance — big earrings, bold looks and all. But for costume designer Kathleen Felix-Hager, it was Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) whose wardrobe told the story of just how much the young writer had changed since Season 1. As Ava became more confident and established in her own life, her clothes grew more sophisticated, incorporating lessons she picked up from Deborah along the way.

That evolution came into focus in Felix-Hager’s Emmy-nominated Episode 3, “No New Tricks,” which also gave the costume designer one of the season’s biggest challenges: creating a dress literally made from playing cards for Deborah to wear to a premiere. Constructed in three pieces and using real playing cards, the look became one of the series’ most memorable fashion moments. Here, Felix-Hager talks to Deadline about creating the showstopping dress and using fashion to reveal the more vulnerable side of Deborah and Ava.

DEADLINE: How would you explain Deborah and Ava’s clothing trajectory from Season 1 to the finale Season 5? 

KATHLEEN FELIX-HAGER: Well, Deborah’s style hasn’t really changed. I mean, she’s been pretty consistent throughout the seasons, but definitely there was a shift in Ava’s style evolution. So I think by the time we see her in the finale, she’s like the grown-up version of Ava Daniels. She’s a fully realized person. She’s her own person. She has some sophistication to her wardrobe at this point.

She’s sort of taken pieces that she’s learned from Deborah, in a way. Not that she has Deborah’s style, but she’s paying more attention to her clothes. She’s buying more investment pieces. She’s styling herself in a more grown-up way. So, I think that’s been the shift really for Ava, since we saw her in Season 1 and Season 5.

DEADLINE: Was there a conversation you had with the showrunners about doing anything differently for the finale season?

FELIX-HAGER: Not specifically, but I know we all felt a sense of really wanting to do justice to the show as a whole. For all the departments, I think we all felt the desire to leave it all on the table. I wanted to do these characters justice and to make Deborah the most Deborah Vance she’s ever been, to really explore how Ava grew up in her costumes and reflecting that in her wardrobe choices.

But, especially in the finale episode, I really feel like just Paris was beautiful, all the colors of all the coats, and that was really fun and creatively satisfying to paint the prettiest picture we could paint of this. Also, because Deborah was going there to say goodbye. She was going there to like her last hurrah, so I wanted her to feel her most beautiful, her most colorful. Even though she was making a decision, in theory, to end her life, I wanted it to be very life-affirming and very bright and hopeful. 

DEADLINE: For Deborah and Ava,  what are some pieces in their wardrobe that they cannot be onscreen without? 

FELIX-HAGER: Definitely for Deborah, it would be earrings. She cannot leave without a pair of big old dangly earrings. And Ava’s most beloved pieces are her vintage Levi’s. That would really be something that she didn’t really leave the house without. She wore those Levis a lot, and it was like, you know, you have your favorite pair of jeans.

DEADLINE: Let’s talk about your Emmy nominated episode, “No New Tricks”. First up, that gorgeous card dress. What went into the idea of this? 

FELIX-HAGER: In the script, it just said: Deborah Vance shows up at the premiere in a dress made of playing cards. So, it was up to me to interpret what that meant. And I did have a conversation with the showrunners and I was doing variations of different things. And they said, “No, it has to be a dress literally made of playing cards.” And I was like, “OK, that’s very specific.” [Laughs.]

I did a few sketches and I knew shapes that work well on Jean, so we wanted it to be a splashy moment. We constructed three pieces: a strapless red gown, a playing card skirt made of real playing cards, and they’re all bedazzled, which were hand sewn on and then the Bolero jacket. I knew I wanted this layer [of cards] around her face. So those were also real playing cards. They were just blown up into a bigger version. But my tailor, Rory Cunningham, constructed it, and I have the sketches, and it was really fun. It was the first thing that I had to do at the beginning of Season 5. 

DEADLINE: This episode also has Christopher Briney, who plays the musician character, Nico Hayes. What went into styling him? 

FELIX-HAGER: He was lovely. Fun fact, he does not have tattoos. Our makeup artist did all those tattoos on him. The moment where he and Deborah show up for the date and they’re in very similar Versace shirts was also a very fun moment. It was a little tricky to find a shirt that was going to work for both of them, and also make sense for the scene and not be super, super jokey. So, I think it really worked out. That black sheer  shirt was a fun rockstar moment for his premiere party, which is the one he wears when he meets Deborah in the card dress – so good. 

DEADLINE: Nico and Deborah’s short lived fling is fun. What did you want her wardrobe though to say about her confidence vs any vulnerability she expresses in this episode? 

FELIX-HAGER: When she first meets Nico, he asks her on a date, she thinks it’s a fake date. She thinks it’s for publicity. So, she’s going along for the ride, so to speak. But then when she gets so giddy and girly and wants to have this relationship, it was very fun for her to be very feminine, and in these soft pink colors of that blouse, and then the fur coat and the whole thing was really nice. Then for vulnerability, when he breaks up with Deborah, it’s a little more heartbreaking in style. 

DEADLINE: Ava also has quite a few outfit choices here. I love her denim fit. 

FELIX-HAGER: Yeah, it’s a denim on denim look with a tie. That’s where she goes to the premier party and she meets the magician and he asks her out. I thought it would be fun to have her dress like that when she meets him. And then when she asks him to join her at the wedding, Marty’s wedding, she’s in a very completely different look. He goes on the date with her, they go to the Ferris wheel and she’s wearing funky loafers. And then, when she goes to the wedding, she’s also very girly in that moment. She’s got, I believe, an Alberta Ferretti gray strapless dress and some pumps, very Audrey Hepburn-esque. I think it’s nice that Ava’s a little bit of a chameleon sometimes. She does things that we don’t expect.

DEADLINE: What is it about this episode that stood out to you in terms of costume design? 

FELIX-HAGER: It showed the card dress, of which I was very proud of the construction and the creation of something outside the box that we’ve seen. Even at that premiere party, which you didn’t really see on camera that much, there was so much work that went into the background, the dressing of the waiters and the waitresses at that party was like a whole jungle theme. And they were very like Adam and Eve and in gold, with vines. There was so much detail work in that. And then, when we saw Marty’s wedding, I think Ava had so many different evolutions in it. It was a very big episode in scope for us. So, I think it just told a nice story about how costumes can contribute to telling the story.