The California Film Commission on March 18 joined the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp., Motion Picture Association, elected officials and production industry leaders to announce the findings of a new study that analyzes the state’s Film and Television Tax Credit Program.

“We doubled the Film and Television Tax Credit Program last year because it’s brought productions to California, generated tens of billions of dollars in economic activity and supported over 110,000 jobs,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said. “No matter what you’re watching, whether it’s nominated for an Oscar or streaming on your TV, we’re making sure it’s filmed right here in California.”

The film commission provided data used by the LAEDC to assess the program’s economic impact and return-on-investment. Data covered the second generation of the tax credit program – dubbed Program 2.0 – that was in effect from July 2015 to June 2020. It has since been followed by Program 3.0.

Program 2.0 allocated $330 million per year in tax credits to fight “runaway production” and grow film/TV production-related employment and spending across the state.

The LAEDC’s analysis focused on key metrics, including economic output, labor income and tax revenues returned to state and local government.

The findings show that for every tax credit dollar allocated, the state benefitted from at least $24.40 in economic output, $16.14 in gross domestic product, $8.60 in wages and $1.07 in state and local tax revenues.

In all, Program 2.0 generated a total of $21.9 billion in economic output and $961.5 million in state and local tax revenue over its five-year run.

“Our uniquely targeted tax credit program enables us to level the playing field, fight runaway production and deliver a significant value to taxpayers,” film commission executive director Colleen Bell said. “Our program welcomes big-budget films, small-budget indies and everything in between. It has also been very successful with TV production, incentivizing new and recurring projects while prompting dozens of series to relocate here from other states and nations.”

Projects that filmed in California under Program 2.0 included current Oscar-nominated films “Licorice Pizza,” “Being the Ricardos,” “Tragedy of Macbeth” and “King Richard,” which together generated $82.7 million in wages to below-the-line workers and payments to vendors over a combined 174 filming days in California.

Other Program 2.0 projects include the current and upcoming releases “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty,” “The Dropout,” “Euphoria,” “Westworld” and “Top Gun: Maverick.” Earlier projects were “Captain Marvel,” “Space Jam 2,” “Birds of Prey,” “Bumblebee” and “A Star is Born.”

The high-profile projects promote film-related tourism, drawing visitors from around the world. Such tourist-related “follow-on” economic activity has a significant economic impact but is not calculated in the LAEDC report.

Program 3.0 started in July 2020. Despite launching during the pandemic, it is achieving its goals, as affirmed by the most recent round of film tax credit projects announced on Feb. 28. The projects are on-track to generate nearly $440 million in wages to below-the-line workers and payments to in-state vendors.

Beyond the financial impacts that are the focus of the LAEDC’s report, Program 3.0 delivers additional benefits to Californians. For example, the California Film Commission’s Career Pathways Program, which is funded entirely by projects in the tax credit program, trains entry-level workers for a wide range of production-related jobs and is very effective at reducing the economic, geographic and social barriers to career success.

Last year’s passage of Senate Bill 144 added an additional $75 million per year in funding (for two years) for recurring TV series and $15 million per year (also for two years) for relocating TV series.

The bill, which Newsom signed on July 21, also creates a separate tax credit program to incentivize the development of much-needed production infrastructure and help ensure the industry’s workforce reflects California’s diversity. The California Film Commission will launch the California Soundstage Filming Tax Credit Program later this year as a new tool to expand film/TV production infrastructure and workforce inclusion.

For information, visit film.ca.gov.