The California Senate, on a bipartisan 37-0 vote, approved extending a model program to keep and create mostly off-screen jobs in California’s film and TV industries.

“In 2009, a steady stream of film and TV production was leaving California for states actively recruiting them, and taking with it millions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of jobs,” Sen. Holly J. Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) said. “It is clear that this program is doubling and tripling investments in our communities and in California’s film and television legacy.”

SB 951 would extend the California Film and Television Production Act from June 30, 2020, to June 30, 2025, and makes key improvements.

To date, the program has allocated $840 million in tax credits to 150 approved projects. Those numbers reflect 29,000 cast members hired; 18,000 crew members hired; and 13 TV series that relocated to California from out of state.

Mitchell said SB 951 was recently amended to require that all participating productions create and enforce a harassment free environment.

“If a production does not have the required policies in place within three days, they are disqualified from the program,” she said.

Additionally, the bill establishes a new Career Pathways Program that provides technical skills training for individuals from underserved communities for entry into film and television industry jobs, paid for by participating productions, not by the production incentive.

“These are skills for good paying jobs that translate into lifetime careers,” she said. “The program keeps families together. It keeps children living with their parents 12 months out of the year, ensuring there are no long separations while one parent is out filming for months at a time.”

Other provisions of SB 951 include awarding tax credits according to a jobs ratio rating system, whereby applications are ranked based upon the number of jobs created in California and other economic factors; increasing funding for independent films and ensuring smaller productions are not competing with larger productions; and offering an additional 5 percent tax credit increase for production outside the Los Angeles 30-mile zone.

Mitchell’s measure was supported by members of both parties. Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law the original 2014 measure, which also received bipartisan support.

SB 951 now moves to the Assembly. Its initial hearing date has not yet been set.