The California Film Commission announced its list of the first non-independent feature films and independent projects selected to receive tax credits under the state’s recently expanded Film and Television Tax Credit Program 2.0.
In all, 11 productions have received conditional approval–eight non-independent feature films and three independent projects. The latter are Chicken Soup For The Soul from Alcon Entertainment LLC, Code Name Veil from Code Name Veil Movie LLC and Twin Peaks from Rancho Rosa Partnership, Inc.
The other eight movies are Action Park and The God Particle from Paramount Pictures, Avon Man and Why Him out of 20th Century Fox Film Corp., Conjuring 2 for S&K Pictures, Overnight from Robotopia Productions, Inc., an untitled Dax Shephard comedy from Warner Bros. Pictures, and Whale out of Newsub 76 Productions, Inc.
Some of these projects are set at least partially in other locales that have been especially aggressive offering tax credits to lure film and TV production. These movies include Conjuring 2 (United Kingdom) and Why Him (Michigan).
“We’re fighting back and winning thanks to our newly expanded tax credit program,” said Amy Lemisch, executive director of the California Film Commission. “We were losing projects that were set here at home, and now we’re back to doubling for other locales. This demonstrates that when the playing field is more level, the industry views California as the first and best option.”
This upward trend began in May with the first allocation for California’s expanded tax credit program, which was earmarked specifically for TV projects. That allocation resulted in four TV series relocating to California from other states (Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland and North Carolina).
Lemisch also noted that the independent film projects on the latest list are from production companies that rarely work in California, opting instead to shoot in states where tax credits have been more readily available. Alcon Entertainment, one of the independent production companies selected to receive tax credits, has not filmed a project entirely in California in more than a decade.
In a joint statement, Alcon Entertainment co-founders and co-CEOs Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson said, “We are excited to be coming back to California to film Chicken Soup for The Soul. We’re looking forward to working with the greatest crews and top facilities, as well as the convenience of managing this project close to home.”
In addition to attracting projects set in incentive-rich locales and/or from producers who traditionally bypass California, the latest list also includes projects that will shoot in-state but outside the dominant Los Angeles 30-Mile Zone.
“Five of the selected films are planning to shoot a combined 77 days outside the 30-mile zone,” Lemisch explained. “This is an early indicator that the new program’s added incentives for filming outside the zone are working and achieving the intended result.”
Based on data provided with each application, the 11 approved projects will generate an estimated $533 million in direct in-state spending, including $171 million in wages for below-the-line crew members.
The latest tax credit program application period (held July 13-25) made available $48.3 million for non-independent feature films, and $6.9 million for independent projects. These latest funding “buckets” total $55.2 million out of the program’s $230 million in first fiscal year funding (note $100 million of the $330 million in annual funding is allocated this year to the final round of the state’s expiring, first-generation tax credit program).
As mandated in the new program, approved projects are selected based on their jobs ratio score, which ranks each project by wages to below-the-line workers, qualified spending for vendors, equipment, etc., and other criteria. The top 200% ranked projects in each round compete for tax credits, and those not selected are placed on the waiting list.
As has been the case since the state launched its first-generation tax credit program in 2009, the California Film Commission awards tax credits only after each selected project: 1) completes post-production, 2) verifies that in-state jobs were created, and 3) provides all required documentation, including audited cost reports.
Remaining application periods for the state’s current fiscal year (which ends June 30, 2016) are as follows:
– November 30-December 6, 2015: TV Series, Mini-series, MOWs, Pilots and Relocating TV series
– January 11-24, 2016: Independent Projects and Non-Independent Feature Films
– February 15-21, 2016: TV Series, Mini-series, MOWs, Pilots and Relocating TV series
More information about California’s recently-expanded Film and Television Tax Credit Program 2.0, including application procedures, eligibility and program guidelines, is available here.
