Latest news with #SB630
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
California Assembly Passes Film Tax Bill to Expand Production Incentives
The California State Assembly has overwhelmingly passed a bill that would overhaul the state's production tax incentive program, a key step in legislators' efforts to provide support to struggling Hollywood workers. The vote on Assembly Bill 1138 was 73 in favor and one against, and comes a day after a similar bill, SB 630, passed 34-1 out of the state senate. The bills now head to the opposite houses as its co-authors say they are looking to expedite the committee vote process so that they can be passed by the legislature, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, and implemented by the California Film Commission all ideally before the legislative session ends for the year in September. 'We are in an emergency, given the unemployment levels and the loss of business in California due to the film industry, so we are working with the legislative leadership to find ways to have the bill go into effect this summer,' said Hollywood Asm. Rick Chavez Zbur, who is one of the co-authors on the bills. The two bills had language removed that calls for the program's cap to be increased from $330 million to $750 million, though that increase is still included in Gov. Gavin Newsom's revised proposed budget for the coming fiscal year. Zbur says that there is high confidence among supporters of the program expansion that the cap raise will be approved in the final budget. 'The structural support that we are receiving from all of the entertainment unions, all of the studios, independent producers, the sound stage managers and owners is uniform, and I've never seen anything like it,' he said. The two bills, known together as the California Film & TV Jobs Act, would expand the types of productions eligible for the tax credit, including animated productions and TV shows with a half-hour runtime. The bill also allows productions that shoot in Los Angeles County and other select nearby shooting locations in Southern California to be eligible for an increased tax writeoff of 35% of all eligible spending. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of film and TV production jobs in California in 2024 fell by approximately 40,000 from the all-time high recorded in 2022, when ongoing demand for streaming shows and a need to catch up on projects delayed by the 2020 pandemic helped fuel a surge in productions. But a variety of factors led to production jobs dropping not just in California but in other major American production hubs like Georgia and New York in 2024. Among them was an industry-wide cutback in production spending as media companies looked to make their streaming services profitable, as well as increased competition from other countries with their own production tax incentives. The combination of that drop in jobs and the loss of work caused by the 2023 strikes that shut down productions for 191 days has led to thousands of entertainment workers in California facing serious financial struggle and has called the future of a cornerstone of the state's economy into question. The post California Assembly Passes Film Tax Bill to Expand Production Incentives appeared first on TheWrap.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Where Did the $750 Million Go? Hollywood Incentive Bill Passes CA Senate Without Newsom's Pledge
Legislation aimed at modernizing and expanding California's program that provides subsidies to film and TV productions has passed the California Senate, though this version of the bill doesn't commit to increasing the cap from $330 million to $750 million a year. Tuesday's near unanimous vote was 34 to one, with the only dissent coming from Sen. Roger Niello (R-Sacramento). The bill, which now heads to the state Assembly for consideration, would vastly boost subsidies to shoot in the state to at least 35 percent while expanding the category of productions that qualify to include shorter TV shows, animated titles and certain types of unscripted projects. More from The Hollywood Reporter New Report Portrays California's Film and TV Production Environment as Uniquely Burdensome and Expensive Steven Paul, Architect of Trump Ambassador Plan to Hollywood, Buys Production Facility L.A. Mayor Vows to Cut Red Tape and Make It Easier to Shoot Movies and Shows In the City Its passage is a crucial victory for workers across Hollywood who've seen significantly less work as productions increasingly opt to shoot in other areas that offer more tax credits. It's the first step in revamping California's program amid a tit-for-tat race to host the entertainment industry. 'We need to do whatever we can to make sure California remains the number one entertainment capitol of the world,' said Sen. Tony Strickland (R-Huntington Beach). 'In order to do that, we need to be in the ballpark. We don't need to top other states, but we need to be in the ballpark.' If passed, Senate Bill 630 would bring the most significant changes to the program since its inception in 2009. The bill, SB 630, was spurred by a historic downturn in filming in the state. The 20 percent base credit offered by California is lower than most competitive film hubs, including New York, Georgia and the U.K. There was broad bipartisan support for the bill, with several lawmakers stressing the impact that the downturn in production has had on their districts in recent years. 'The domino effect is vast,' said Sen. Carolina Menjivar (D-San Fernando Valley), whose district includes Burbank. 'This impacts dry cleaners and the people with small restaurants around these studios. They've noted a decreased amount of pedestrian traffic to their businesses because they're surrounded by studios and there's not a lot of work.' Sen. Suzette Martinez Valladares(R-Santa Clarita) said that soundstages and postproduction houses in her district are suffering as productions opt to work with vendors in other states and countries. She pointed to the first season of Amazon's Fallout filming in New York despite the story taking place in a post-apocalyptic California (season two opted to shoot in California after receiving tax credits). 'We're losing significant ground,' she said. 'Other states have built entire industries luring production away from California.' Under the bill, productions could get 35 percent of their spend back for costs incurred in the states. An additional five percent credit would also be available for shooting in certain areas outside Los Angeles. And in a bid to keep up with other regions broadening the types of productions that can receive subsidies, TV shows consisting of two or more episodes of at least 20 minutes would qualify for the program, which currently only allows series with episodes of at least 40 minutes to qualify. Other productions that could get credits under the revisions to the bill include sitcoms, animated films, series or shorts and 'large-scale competition' shows, excluding reality, documentary programming and game or talk shows. They must have budgets of at least $1 million. The bill, however, doesn't contemplate allowing any portion of above-the-line costs, like salaries for actors, directors and producers, to qualify for subsidies. California is currently the only major film hub to maintain such a scheme. Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica) said that the state wants to 'avoid a race to the bottom.' He added that the program is 'grounded in jobs creation and economic activity' unlike Georgia's. The legislation is expected to meet more resistance on Thursday at the state Assembly, where lawmakers could express concerns over increasing subsidies to film and TV productions as the state proposes major cuts to health care and universities. Best of The Hollywood Reporter How the Warner Brothers Got Their Film Business Started Meet the World Builders: Hollywood's Top Physical Production Executives of 2023 Men in Blazers, Hollywood's Favorite Soccer Podcast, Aims for a Global Empire
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
California Senate Approves Film & TV Tax Credits Bill
In a near-unanimous vote, the California Senate today passed its version of legislation aimed at expanding and retooling the state's Film and Television Tax Credit Program. The vote on Senate Bill 630 was 34-1, with the only nay coming from Sen. Roger Niello, who represents the city of Sacramento and surrounding areas. The bill (read it here) now moves on to the state Assembly. More from Deadline Show Us The Money: When Can Productions Expect To Reap Benefits Of California's Proposed $750M Film & TV Tax Credit Expansion? SAG-AFTRA's 'Here's Looking At You L.A.' & Mayor Karen Bass Push For State & Federal Tax Incentives To Get Hollywood Working Again Sweetened New York Production Incentives A Go As State Budget Passes Along with Assembly Bill 1138 — which passed the Appropriations Committee last month — the legislation would expand the definition of a qualified motion picture, allowing additional projects to apply for the program, including series with episodes averaging 20 minutes or more, animation films, series, and shorts, and large-scale competition shows. After years of strife for the California film and television industry, Gov. Gavin Newsom in October proposed a significant increase to the overall cap on incentives, more than doubling it from $330 million to $750M annually. SB630 and AB1138 seek to do more than just provide additional finance incentives to studios who bring physical production back to California. The sister bills also are meant to 'amend, update, and modernize' the program. The legislation comes amid the latest spurt of runaway production as other states ramp up their film and TV tax incentives programs in an effort to lure production away from California. New York last month passed a state budget that includes expanded incentives. RELATED: Also getting Hollywood's attention is President Donald Trump's bombshell announcement of planned tariffs on movies produced outside the U.S., which were decried many in the industry, along with Newsom, who said Trump has 'no authority' to impose the tariffs. Here is how the voting on SB630 went: Best of Deadline 2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Tonys, Emmys, Oscars & More Everything We Know About 'Nobody Wants This' Season 2 So Far List Of Hollywood & Media Layoffs From Paramount To Warner Bros Discovery To CNN & More
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
California Film Tax Credit Overhaul Bill Passes State Senate, Funding Debate Over Cap to Come
A California bill that would loosen the eligibility requirements and expand the benefits of the state's film and television tax credit program was passed by the State Senate in Sacramento on Tuesday, clearing a key vote as lawmakers look for ways to halt and reverse the decline of production jobs for entertainment workers in the Golden State. Senate Bill 630 passed its floor vote with 34 state senators voting in favor of the bill with only one vote against. The bill moves next to the State Assembly, which is set for a floor vote on its version of the program expansion, Assembly Bill 1138, this Thursday. Combined, the two bills have been named the California Film and Television Jobs Act by its authors, which include several Los Angeles-based legislators like Hollywood Asm. Rick Chavez Zbur and Westside State Sen. Ben Allen. The bills would expand the types of productions that can qualify for the tax credit to include, among others, animated TV programs with a minimum budget of $1 million per episode and live-action TV programs with a half-hour runtime. The bills also raise the tax credit rate for productions shot in Los Angeles and select nearby shooting areas from 20% to 35% of qualified spending, an addition done to incentivize job creation in Hollywood's backyard amidst rising living costs and in the aftermath of January's wildfires in Pacific Palisades and Altadena. But questions still remain over whether this expansion will come with an increase in the tax credit program's cap, which currently stands at $330 million per year. Last fall, Gov. Gavin Newsom threw his support behind a drastic increase in that cap to $750 million year, which would make it the third-highest program in the country behind Georgia, which does not have a cap on its tax credit program, and New York, which last month raised its cap to $800 million. Two weeks ago, the California Senate Budget Committee removed language from SB 630 that called for the $750 million cap raise over objections to funding changes being made outside of the state's budgetary process, which reaches a critical stage this month as Gov. Newsom is set to present a revised proposed budget amidst uncertainty over federal funding and business revenue stemming from the Trump Administration and its economic policies. While state law requires California to pass a budget bill by June 15, sources tell TheWrap that the deadline may not provide a final decision on how much funding the tax credit program gets due to its status as a budget appropriation that is not an essential part of state infrastructure and government function. Industry insiders and legislative reps said they could not provide a timetable on when the budget cap for the program would be finalized. The post California Film Tax Credit Overhaul Bill Passes State Senate, Funding Debate Over Cap to Come appeared first on TheWrap.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
California Film Credit Expansion in Flux as Lawmakers Delete References to $750 Million
The expansion of the California film and TV tax credit, which industry stakeholders argue is key to protecting jobs in the state, hit a snag on Friday, as lawmakers deleted references in bill language to raising the program cap to $750 million. Gov. Gavin Newsom vowed last fall to increase the program from $330 million to $750 million. Two bills, AB 1138 and SB 630, have been working their way through the legislative process to enact that increase and other changes to make the program more attractive to producers. More from Variety California Gov. Gavin Newsom Proposes $7.5 Billion Federal Film Incentive After Trump Floats Tariffs Trump Plans to Meet With Film Industry to Discuss Tariffs: 'I Want to Make Sure They're Happy' and 'I'm Not Looking to Hurt' Them Animation Guild Seeks Enhanced California Subsidy to Combat Outsourcing On Friday, the bills passed through the appropriations committees in the Assembly and Senate, but the references to $750 million were removed. That dollar figure could be added back in later in the budget process, but for now it is not guaranteed. 'We're certainly disappointed in this direction, and it's something we are going to push back against as budget negotiations begin to heat up,' said Sen. Ben Allen, who authored the Senate version of the bill. 'We have been watching the decline of this critical industry in real time over recent years, and we cannot continue to sit on the sidelines. This program needs to be modernized if we want to retain California as the global hub of entertainment.' The removal of the dollar figure could turn out to be a hiccup in the process. Industry supporters have been confident that the expansion will be approved. The changes were made as the committees voted on hundreds of bills, which must be passed out of the 'suspense file' to make it to the floor. Newsom affirmed support for the $750 million increase just last week, after issuing a revised budget proposal to the Legislature. 'We need to step things up,' he said. The Legislature must pass a budget by June 15, though some funding items may be addressed later than that through trailer bills. Dozens of entertainment union representatives have attended a series of hearings in Sacramento this spring to push for the expansion. In testimony before Assembly and Senate committees, they have argued that the state must do more to compete with attractive incentive programs in other states and abroad. As currently written, the legislation would increase the amount of the tax credit from 20% of qualified expenses to 35%. That would increase to 40% for productions outside of the Los Angeles area, or in economically depressed areas of Los Angeles. The program would also expand to include animated films and TV shows, sitcoms and large-scale competition shows. Additional amendments are expected to add eligibility for music scoring. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Talk/Scripted Variety Series - The Variety Categories Are Still a Mess; Netflix, Dropout, and 'Hot Ones' Stir Up Buzz Oscars Predictions 2026: 'Sinners' Becomes Early Contender Ahead of Cannes Film Festival
