‘Community’ Movie Inches Closer to Filming With California Tax Credit, ‘Suits: LA’ Among Other Recipients

Another day, another “Community” movie update – but this one’s good. The feature film continuation of the beloved comedy series scored a tax credit from the California Film Commission to shoot in the Golden State, marking a significant step forward for the production. The “Community” movie’s expenditure is set at $16.3 million, $3.3 million of which they’ll get back as part of the tax credit program.

The film, written by Dan Harmon, will reunite the entire cast from the NBC series to fulfill the show’s “six seasons and a movie” prophecy. A production start date has not yet been set, but Harmon spent the last year working on the screenplay to get the film in shape.

Overall, the Film and Television Tax Credit Program allocated $39.6 million to three big-budget films and 15 independent films on Tuesday, while another $12 million was awarded to “Suits: LA” through the Soundstage Filming Tax Credit Program. The pilot for the “Suits” spin-off was shot in Vancouver, but the production was moved to Los Angeles after it was picked up to series.

Expected to spend $25 million in qualified wages and a total of $50.7 million in California qualified expenditures, “Suits: LA” will create over 2,600 new jobs in the state.

“Keeping jobs here in California and bringing jobs back to California have always been top priorities for our state,” said Colleen Bell, executive director of the California Film Commission. “We’re not only helping people get back to work, but also keeping major projects like ‘Suits: LA’ — which was planning to film elsewhere — right here in Los Angeles where it belongs. This is crucial for our economy and the well-being of our crew that call California home.”

Among the indies securing tax credits is a Janis Joplin biopic that will star Shailene Woodley from Temple Hill LLC. Collectively, these 15 indie features will spend $169.9 million in qualified California expenditures, with $61.6 million in qualified wages supporting 2,588 jobs for cast and crew and 12,354 background performers.

“California meant so much to Janis Joplin — from the stoops of San Francisco to the wooden walls of Sunset Sound, the state became the stage upon which she explored not just the world of music, but the world of her vibrant humanity,” said Woodley.

“Being a Los Angeles native myself, and having grown up working alongside industry locals, knowing our film will be created with some of the most gifted, passionate and devotional people leaves me giddy. I have a feeling Janis would be smiling ear to ear zipping down the PCH in her psychedelic Porsche knowing her story is bringing opportunities and funding to the city and people that held so much significance to her,” the statement continued. “Thank you to the California Film Commission’s Film & Television Tax Credit Program — myself and the other producers on this project believe California is the only place to film a slice of Janis’s life with authenticity and truth — and we are so grateful to have received the green light to do so!”

The news comes as Los Angeles faces a downturn in jobs for film and TV production, leaving plenty of veterans out of work, as detailed in TheWrap’s Holding on in Hollywood series .

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