The California Chamber of Commerce is supporting the Governor’s budget proposal to extend the film and television tax credit, which has proven effective at maintaining jobs in the state and growing jobs in the industry.
Within the 2023–24 budget proposal is an allocation of $330 million in tax credits each fiscal year starting in 2025–26.
California’s Film and Television Tax Credit Program contributed almost $21.9 billion in economic output over five years and supported more than 110,000 total jobs in the state, according to a study released by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC).
The Film and Television Tax Credit Program 2.0, which ran from July 2015 through June 2020, allocated $330 million per year in tax credits to fight “runaway production” and grow film/TV production-related employment and spending across the state.
The LAEDC study shows that for every tax credit dollar allocated, the state benefited from at least $24.40 in economic output, $16.14 in gross domestic product (GDP), $8.60 in wages and $1.07 in state and local tax revenues. The program also returned to state and local governments an estimated $961.5 million in tax revenue.
The latest edition of California’s Film and Television Tax Credit Program (Program 3.0) started in July 2020 to continue and expand upon Program 2.0’s success. Despite launching during the pandemic, Program 3.0 is achieving its goals, as affirmed by the most recent round of film tax credit projects, which are on track to generate nearly $440 million in wages to below-the-line workers and payments to in-state vendors.
Beyond the financial impacts that are the focus of the LAEDC’s report, Program 3.0 delivers additional benefits. For example, the California Film Commission’s Career Pathways Program, which is funded entirely by projects in the tax credit program, trains entry-level workers for a wide range of production-related jobs and is very effective at reducing the economic, geographic and social barriers to career success.
