By Gavin Boyle
California lawmakers are working hard to save their state’s position at the top of the movie industry, but their efforts may have started too late to make a difference.
“The beginning of 2024, everything fell off a cliff. I called all my old mentors and begged to be taken on as an assistant. I never had to do that in 20 years,” lead food stylist Sienna DeGovia told Variety when discussing the state of production in LA.
Though DeGovia’s area of expertise is quite niche, nearly everyone in Hollywood is experiencing similar difficulties as work becomes incredibly difficult to find. So far this year, production in LA is down 30% compared to 2024 and down 50% compared to the five year average.
While the rising costs of production in LA are certainly to blame for some of this decrease, other factors like the pandemic, 2023 dual strikes and Palisades fires have all significantly contributed to this trend as well. Nonetheless, other states and countries have taken this opportunity to bolster their involvement in the movie industry through lucrative tax incentives that are keeping productions from returning to LA.
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Texas, for example, is currently debating a bill in its state congress which would boost its biannual film tax credit to $300 million, while New York’s annual tax credit sits at $800 million. Georgia’s is over $1 billion. These tax programs are beneficial for studios who are always looking for ways to cut costs, but people in the industry are not happy with where their future is headed.
“Actors, HODS, writers, producers, and directors want to live here and see their families. They don’t want to go to Bulgaria or South Africa or Canada to shoot, and that brings below-the-line jobs back to LA,” writer and director Alexandra Pechman told Deadline. “But we need to incentivize people to stay here and rebuild and support our small businesses. This city was built on people coming here to make movies — let’s keep them here.”
California lawmakers are attempting to do just that with Governor Gavin Newsom leading the charge to more than double the state’s current tax incentive, raising it to $750 million per year. The state may need more help than this, however, and is pushing for a federal program as well, which has found support from some people close to President Trump.
With 40,000 production jobs leaving California in the past two years, all the state’s efforts may not be enough as raising incentives to $750 million per year is only expected to bring back up to 5,000 jobs, per Variety. Though California is fighting hard to keep its position as the production center of the world, it may already be too late.
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