California legislature acts to keep film and TV production at home
Hollywood's home state of California will more than double annual tax incentives for film and television production to $750m under a measure passed by the Democratic-led legislature on Friday.
The increase from the current $330m was approved as part of a broader tax bill that is expected to be signed into law by California's governor, Gavin Newsom.
Newsom has advocated for the boost, a step to help reverse a years-long exodus of production from California to places such as Britain, Canada and other US states that offer generous tax credits and rebates.
Producers, directors, actors and crew members have warned lawmakers that Hollywood was at risk of becoming the next Detroit, the former automaking capital devastated by overseas competition.
Permitting data showed production in Los Angeles, the location of major studios including Walt Disney and Netflix, fell to the second-lowest level on record in 2024. California has lost more than 17,000 jobs since 2022 from its declining share of the entertainment industry, according to union estimates.
Producer Uri Singer said he shot three films in New York to take advantage of its tax incentives. He received a California tax credit to shoot his current project, a horror flick called Corporate Retreat, in Los Angeles.
'You can get such good cast and crew that are available that makes shooting in LA financially better,' he said. 'Besides that, creatively you find here anyone you want, and if you need another crane, within an hour you have a crane.'
Plus, 'the crew is happy because they go home every day,' Singer added.
'The Entertainment Union Coalition applauds today's announcement,' said Rebecca Rhine, the president of a coalition of unions and guilds that represent writers, musicians, directors and other film professionals, in a statement. 'The expanded funding of our program is an important reminder of the strength and resiliency of our members, the power of our broad-based union and guild coalition, and the role our industry plays in supporting our state's economy.'
'It's now time to get people back to work and bring production home to California,' Rhine added. 'We call on the studios to recommit to the communities and workers across the state that built this industry and built their companies.'
Local advocates applauded California's expansion of tax incentives, though they said more needs to be done.
Writer Alexandra Pechman, an organizer of a Stay in LA campaign by Hollywood workers, called on traditional studios and expanding internet platforms to commit to a specific amount of spending in California to support creative workers.
'It's time for the studios and streamers to do their part to turn this win into real change for all of us,' Pechman said.
Industry supporters also are pushing for federal tax incentives to keep filming in the United States.
Donald Trump claimed in May that he had authorized government agencies to impose a 100% tariff on movies produced overseas. The movie tariff has not been implemented.
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The issue is that the demand to see him don his tennis whites again, even at almost 44, is off the charts. When he embarked on an express circuit of Latin America in 2019, he banked £7.7 million in six days, packing out stadiums from Santiago to Quito, Mexico City to Buenos Aires, with the fervour around his Argentina date compelling Diego Maradona to tell him: 'You were, you are, and will always be the greatest. There is no other like you.' All this was accomplished without Nadal, his perfect foil, across the net. As soon as they joined forces in Cape Town in 2020, in aid of Federer's foundation, the occasion drew over 51,000 people, the largest attendance ever recorded for a tennis match. You can imagine the rock-star reception they would attract if they decide, as men of independent means, to head out on the road for a reunion tour. This is why the idea holds such appeal for Federer, who, for all his sincere efforts at humility, has an acute appreciation of his worth. 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And every point you lose, you f------ take it.' The irony was that he had never acted this way in team sport before, even when flying the flag for Switzerland at the Davis Cup. It illustrated the hollowness of the enterprise, with Federer trying to make a spectacle that essentially meant nothing look as if it meant everything. It is the fundamental problem with the Laver Cup, as it rolls on to San Francisco in September: that for its pretensions to be sport of substance, it serves little purpose beyond burnishing Federer's cult of personality. The pity is that he still resists any shift into television commentary, where he could offer a degree of technical expertise unparalleled in the booth. He has admitted that he did consider it, only shelving the plan when he realised how critical he would have to be of the players. Perhaps his most impulsive move was to decide, six years ago, to invest in a then little-known Swiss footwear company called On, whose creators first experimented by crafting shoes from lengths of garden hose. Federer called them to arrange dinner, clarifying that this time he was seeking not sponsorship but a personal investment. Having negotiated three per cent equity, he used his international profile to turn a Zurich start-up into an £8.2 billion behemoth, with its own limited-edition range christened 'The Roger'. When On was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021, 31.1 million shares were sold at £17.47 each, giving Federer a stake worth £262 million – nearly three times the total he amassed in 24 years as a tennis professional. It is at this point that you wonder if Federer's life is celestially ordained, with even his rare gambles somehow striking gold. The reality is more that he understands, better than just about any sports star in history, what his strengths are and exactly how he can monetise them. Even in elder statesman mode, he is tennis's version of an omniscient being, hovering above all he surveys. Whether it is using shoes to catapult himself towards billionaire status, or enlisting singer Ellie Goulding to sing at his last match over a video montage of his greatest hits, Federer is the man who orchestrates his own drama, who writes the scripts of which nobody else could dream.
