LOS ANGELES — California is making another push to keep film and television jobs in the state as Hollywood faces increasingly aggressive competition from production hubs elsewhere in the United States and abroad.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation this week strengthening California’s Film and Television Tax Credit Program while establishing the state’s first standalone tax incentive specifically for post-production work.
The changes come amid a broader effort to keep entertainment spending and employment in California, particularly in the Los Angeles region, where film and television production has historically supported an extensive network of actors, crew members, editors, visual-effects artists, sound professionals and local businesses.
The new post-production incentive is especially significant because a project will not necessarily have to be filmed in California for qualifying post-production work to receive the credit.
That could give California another opportunity to capture entertainment spending even when cameras are rolling somewhere else.
California Targets Post-Production Jobs
Assembly Bill 2319, authored by Assembly member Nick Schultz of Burbank, establishes a standalone tax credit for qualified post-production expenses incurred in California.
The incentive covers areas including picture editing, sound, music, visual effects and finishing.
Qualifying expenses can receive credits ranging from 35% to 50%, depending on the circumstances. The program is expected to begin with approximately $10 million in annual funding, substantially below the $100 million initially sought by supporters of the proposal.
The legislation nevertheless represents a notable change in California’s approach to competing for entertainment work.
California’s existing Film and Television Tax Credit Program can already cover post-production expenses for qualifying productions, but eligibility generally ties that work to projects meeting California production requirements.
The standalone incentive creates a different opportunity: productions filmed elsewhere could potentially bring their editing, sound, visual effects and other finishing work back to California.
That distinction could become increasingly important as entertainment production becomes geographically dispersed.
According to reporting by the Los Angeles Times, California’s share of U.S. post-production employment has fallen from approximately 53% to 42% over the last 13 years, based on figures from economic consulting firm CVL Economics. The state had roughly 12,000 post-production jobs last year.
California’s $750 Million Hollywood Incentive
The latest legislation builds upon a much larger expansion California approved in 2025.
The state more than doubled the annual allocation for its Film and Television Tax Credit Program from $330 million to $750 million, while expanding the types of productions eligible for incentives.
Those projects are projected to generate approximately $6.6 billion in direct production spending in California, including $4.3 billion in qualified expenditures and approximately $2.58 billion in qualified wages.
The commission estimates the projects will generate 34,921 cast and crew jobs, along with more than 212,000 background-performer workdays and 6,630 filming days throughout California.
Productions receiving credits have included television projects such as Fallout, The Pitt, Presumed Innocent, NCIS: Origins and The Studio, as well as major film and animation projects.
Applications to the expanded program increased 82% compared with the previous year, according to the California Film Commission.
Additional Changes to California’s Film Incentive
Newsom also signed Senate Bill 186, which makes additional changes intended to increase the usefulness of California’s existing film and television incentives.
The legislation increases the amount of unused credits that can be refunded and accelerates the refund schedule.
It also provides relief for certain independent productions affected by California’s temporary limitation on how much in business tax credits can be claimed annually.
Together, the measures are intended to make California more competitive as states and countries use tax incentives to attract productions traditionally associated with Hollywood.
Los Angeles Has a Lot at Stake
For Los Angeles, the issue extends beyond movie studios.
Entertainment production supports a much broader local economy that includes equipment rental companies, caterers, hotels, transportation providers, construction workers, costume houses, photographers, editors, sound studios and thousands of freelance workers.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass welcomed the legislation, arguing that entertainment jobs have an economic impact extending into families and businesses throughout the region.
The city has increasingly focused on retaining entertainment production as Los Angeles competes against production centers offering their own financial incentives.
The challenge isn’t simply keeping movies physically filming on Los Angeles streets or studio lots. Post-production has become another battleground.
Editing suites, visual-effects companies, sound facilities, composers and finishing houses represent work that can potentially be moved without relocating an entire physical production.
California’s new standalone incentive is designed to make keeping that work in the state financially more attractive.
Is $10 Million Enough?
The legislation also leaves a significant question: whether the initial funding will be large enough to meaningfully affect where studios send their post-production work.
The standalone program begins with approximately $10 million — only a fraction of California’s $750 million annual production incentive.
Supporters originally sought approximately $100 million for the post-production program.
Industry advocates have described the smaller allocation as a starting point, with discussions over potentially expanding the program likely to continue.
California’s overall entertainment incentive strategy is therefore becoming broader rather than simply larger.
The state is attempting to attract the initial production, keep cast and crew employed during filming and now compete more directly for the work that happens after filming ends.
For Hollywood’s workforce, the stakes extend well beyond where the next movie is shot.
The larger question is how much of the entertainment industry’s entire production pipeline — from soundstage to editing room — California can keep at home.
Sources: California Governor’s Office; California Film Commission; Office of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass; Los Angeles Times.
