Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) wants to double California ’s Film & Television Tax Credit Program, freeing up $750 million a year to entice moviemakers to work in the state.
This figure would be an increase from the current $330 million annual allocation to help the state stay at the top of film production, according to a press release . Newsom unveiled the proposal during a news conference Sunday at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, joined by Los Angeles Democratic Mayor Karen Bass, as well as legislative leaders and union officials.
“We’re in a position where we can afford this, and we need to do this. It’s about recognizing the world we invented is now competing against us,” Newsom said behind a lectern with “Lights, Cameras, Jobs” written on it.
The proposal follows the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, during which thousands of industry workers went on strike for more than three months. The strike resulted in an estimated $5 billion nationwide loss in the entertainment industry, but writers and actors may have been in a worse economic position without it, according to a study from the University of Michigan.