14 PRODUCTION SOUND & VIDEO – Winter 2025
What's Next
for the California
Film Incentives?
We have been making movies in Hollywood for one hundred fourteen years. It began
in 1910 with the release of D.W. Griffith's Western short film, In Old California, and
by the 1920s, nearly 90% of all films were produced in California. Throughout the
twentieth century, the entertainment industry helped grow the state's economy into
one of the largest in the world. However, times have changed. Filmmaking is now
a global industry with annual revenues between $90 billion to $100 billion. Every
locality is trying to capture a bite of that pie, luring productions to film in their
regions with large tax incentive programs that offset the cost of producing movies
and television. This has led to a drought of work in California. Tens of thousands of
workers and their families are struggling as the industry has migrated to other areas.
So, let's talk about the California Film & Television Tax Credit Program.
by Ryan Pedersen & James Delhauer
