California Production Incentive Sees 400% Spike in Applications in July

As seen in Variety

California’s efforts to jumpstart the entertainment economy are showing early signs of success, as the California Film Commission saw a 400% spike in applications for tax credits in July.

The state expanded its film and TV incentive from $330 million annually to $750 million in June in hopes of counteracting an industrywide downturn. The commission opened a new “application window” for TV series on July 7-9, the first under new regulations that make the credit more attractive to productions.

The new program is more generous, offering a credit worth 35%-40% of qualified production costs, up from 20%-25% under the old system. The cap on qualified expenses has also been raised from $100 million per project to $120 million. Larger projects could get as much as $48 million in credits, nearly double the maximum under the previous program.

Eligibility has also been expanded. The old rules allowed non-relocating TV series to qualify only if each episode was at least 40 minutes long excluding commercials. That threshold has now been lowered to 20 minutes, meaning that sitcoms and other half-hour shows will qualify.