By Mallory Mattingly
Production and filming in the Los Angeles area continues to struggle even as legislators increased tax credits for film and TV production.
“California lawmakers have approved a plan aimed at keeping Hollywood in Hollywood by giving production companies more financial incentive to stay here,” ABC7 News reported several weeks ago.
This legislation comes as the city has seen a 6.2% year-over-year drop in on-location shoots, per The Wrap. It’s 32% below the five-year average, Variety said, noting, though, that shoot days have increased “slightly compared to the first three months of 2025.”
Legislators hope that the state’s new tax credit plan, which increased from $330 million a year to $750 million, will revitalize production in LA and California.
“FilmLA is elated with the news of the passage of the California Film & Television Tax Credit Program by the California State Legislature,” Film LA president Paul Audley said in a statement. “We are grateful to our partners and collaborators across the industry and in government who joined together to advocate for a stronger, modernized, and revitalized California where production can thrive once again.”
Variety reported that the increase will take effect this month.
Lawmakers also voted to increase “the available credit amount for an individual project from 20% to 35%. AB1138 (Zbur/Bryan) also raised the per-production incentive cap from $100 million to $120 million and tripled total program funding for independent films from $26 million to $75 million. Film tax credits are also now refundable in California, beginning with the 2025-26 fiscal year.”
Related: Gov. Newsom Announces Tax Credit Extension to Bring Movie Productions Back to California
“While there is work ahead to bring Los Angeles-area production back to its full potential, we are optimistic and grounded in our mission to keep production affordable, accessible and straightforward,” Audley added. “We look forward to our continuing conversations with government officials and our partners in the industry to see the full fruition of the economic, cultural, and employment benefits that Los Angeles’s film ecosystem offers to our community. We remain dedicated to working with our union partners, independent and major studios, and community organizations until there’s no better place to film in the world than right here in Los Angeles.”
THE PITT’s Noah Wyle applauded the bill as 1,400 people were employed during the medical series’s first season. That employment included special effects coordinator Rob Nary.
“You can build a soundstage in another state, but you won’t get the Rob Nary that comes with it,” Wyle said, per The Wrap. “This state has been generating talent for decades and decades and decades, and that apprenticeship means a lot when you are making a film or a television show.”
Will these increased incentives be enough to pull production back into the state? Time will tell.
Read Next: Hollywood Teeters on Collapse as Workers Call for More Tax Credits
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