As Movies and Shows Leave California, New Coalition Forms to Keep Production In State

As seen in The Hollywood Reporter.

As Gov. Gavin Newsom readies a plan to double California’s film and TV incentive program from $330 million to $750 million a year in tax relief for producers who shoot in the state, a new coalition is forming to lobby aggressively to keep Hollywood in Hollywood.

The group, titled the California Production Coalition, comprises 30-plus businesses and organizations including studio operators like Hudson Pacific Properties and Raleigh Studios as well as payroll providers like Entertainment Partners and Wrapbook, film equipment providers and the studios’ main trade org the Motion Picture Association.

It launched with an independent poll commissioned that pushes its narrative that voters in the state also care about keeping the motion picture industry filming in Hollywood. And the formation arrives the same day as the California Film Commission touted that it had enticed season two of Apple TV+’s Bad Monkey to relocate from Florida with $20 million in tax credits.

“The MPA and its members are proud to stand with California businesses to highlight how our creative community can grow its meaningful contributions and build a stronger foundation for film and television production in the state,” said MPA chief Charles Rivkin, who runs the org comprised of members including Disney, Universal, Sony, Paramount, Netflix and Amazon MGM Studios.

This new production coalition has been formed after an exodus of Hollywood projects have moved out of the state (and outside the country) in search of tax credit incentives that will give producers the best return on their money. At the same time, production activity overall has fallen which creates a ripple effect that impacts the prop houses, studio services operators and studio lots that comprise many workers in the entertainment industry.

Global production volume in the third quarter of 2024 fell about 17 percent compared to the same time frame in 2022 (last year was excluded due to the dual writers’ and actors’ strikes), per industry tracker ProdPro. And, in Los Angeles county, production fell 5 percent in the third quarter compared to last year, which permitting office FilmLA described as the “weakest” quarter of the year.

Those headlines, as well as industry figures who’ve sounded the alarm, prompted Newsom in late October to jet from Sacramento to Raleigh Studios in L.A. to unveil a plan alongside Mayor Karen Bass to staunch the production exodus. “Expanding this program will help keep production here at home, generate thousands of good-paying jobs, and strengthen the vital link between our communities and the state’s iconic film and TV industry,” Newsom stated.

Interestingly, in the study commissioned by the California Production Coalition, a slide promotes the idea that CA voters are in favor of supporting the tax credit to include additional programming, with a majority of those sampled in the poll saying game shows like Jeopardy!, competition shows like American Ninja Warrior, talk shows and reality TV shows should also be considered for tax credits. Reality TV production has been particularly hard hit in L.A., with about a 56 percent decline year-to-year for shoots in the last quarter, per FilmLA.

“We must not take California’s film industry for granted and expect to stay competitive in the global entertainment industry without a competitive tax credit program,” stated Pam Elyea, owner of equipment rental company History for Hire. “The California Production Coalition was founded by a group of small business owners, studios, and professional organizations with strong roots in our local communities. Let’s give our California roots the fiscal nourishment to grow even stronger and larger.”

Kavon Elhami, a coalition member and CEO of Camtec Motion Picture Camera Systems, added, “Today, we are witnessing firsthand the challenges facing our industry as California’s dominance in entertainment is tested by other states and countries. Thousands of businesses like ours flourish in a thriving production environment. It is essential that we come together now to ensure California remains the hub of the motion picture industry.”