Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 132 yesterday (7/10), thus extending California’s $330 million-a-year Film and TV Tax Credit Program an additional five years through fiscal 2030-31, which will create an estimated 60,000 jobs and $10 billion of investment over that time.
“California’s iconic entertainment industry drives economic growth in communities all across our state,” said Governor Newsom. “Over the past years, our Film and Television Tax Credit Program has helped create thousands of good paying jobs, relocated productions to California, and brought billions in new investment to our state. Through the extension of the program, we’ll continue this growth, protect jobs, and push for progress on diversity so workers better represent communities throughout our state.”
Colleen Bell, executive director of the California Film Commission, stated, “For more than a century, our unmatched crews, talent, infrastructure and locations have made California the world’s entertainment capital. The extension of our tax credit program will strengthen our global competitiveness and deliver significant, long-term value to California’s economic future.”
Building upon a strong track record of success from previous iterations of the program, through which productions have generated more than $23 billion in economic output and supported the employment of more than 178,000 cast and crew, California’s new budget will create the state’s fourth-generation film/TV tax credit program–known as Program 4.0.
Program 4.0 will include new workforce diversity provisions and increased funding (via a required contribution from tax credit projects) for the Film Commission’s Career Pathways Training Program, which helps prepare Californians from diverse communities for careers in the production industry. To qualify for a full allocation of tax credits, participating projects will be required to file a diversity workplan and demonstrate a good faith effort to hire a workforce that is “broadly reflective” of California’s population.
Additionally, Program 4.0 will contain a first in the nation Safety on Production Pilot Program, which involves a firearms training requirement and the inclusion of a specialized advisor to monitor on-set safety.
Finally, for the first time since the initial program was launched in 2009, tax credits will be refundable beginning with the 2025-26 fiscal year.
