California faces stiff competition from other states and their film tax incentives

Topline:

As other states and countries offer outsized tax incentives for productions, California and Los Angeles are being pummeled in the battle for film and TV shoots as Hollywood’s studio lots go deserted.

Why it matters: Los Angeles’ status as the home of the entertainment industry draws tourists and gives the city a level of prestige, but far more important than that are the financial implications of being the film and TV capital of the world. Every dollar allocated in the California Film Commission generates $24.40 in economic activity. With productions looking to other states, as well as international locales, the upheaval for the industry’s workers in L.A. is a significant issue.

How bad is it: Though films have been shooting away from L.A. for some time now, TV productions have ramped up their filming outside of Hollywood, too. During last summer’s strikes, many productions moved abroad and stayed there. For example, three big series — Wednesday , The Night Agent and Apples Never Fall — have moved to Ireland, Vancouver and Australia, respectively.

The fight back: Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has assembled an Entertainment Industry Cabinet dedicated to supporting Hollywood and to combat “production leakage." She’s also putting together a task force of film liaisons from various city departments that will meet quarterly. But many in the industry worry about the optics of L.A. raising its tax incentive funding, out of fear it’d signal a benefit to corporations and their wealthy executives, not workers.

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