The legislature adjourns for the year on August 31 at 11:59 PM.
While lawmakers race the clock, a movie that almost never existed just outgrossed everyone's expectations. "Coyote vs. Acme" opened this weekend to $15.5M and strong reviews. Three years ago, Warner Bros. shelved the finished film for a $30M tax write-off. Ketchup Entertainment picked up the rights for $50M, and the director's message when it finally hit theaters was simple. We won. The audience never left. It just took someone willing to actually give them the movie.
Sacramento is trying to give more productions that same chance. Two new bills, SB 186 and AB 186, are moving this week to fix real problems in the SB 122 program. These bills would do the following:
- Fully exclude independent productions from both the temporary and permanent caps
- Cut the refund payback period from 5 years to 2
- Cut the refund haircut from 10% to 5%
- Extend carryforward periods from 9 years to 15 for productions rolling from Program 2.0 and 3.0 into 4.0.
None of that makes headlines, but it's exactly what decides whether a production pencils out here or somewhere else.
Meanwhile something bigger is moving in Washington. A federal production incentive is gaining traction, with a proposed 20 percent credit for labor in front of and behind the camera, stackable on top of state incentives, could get introduced in Congress as soon as September. It has real bipartisan legs because Georgia and Louisiana are Republican led production states too. Jon Voight has been quietly working this for over a year. Rep. Laura Friedman is leading the House side. For once, this isn't a fight.
I was quoted recently in Politico on why any of this matters. What incentives have taught the world is to create Hollywood style movies with their own actors, with their own stories, but they look like they were made in Hollywood. So, there's less and less need for our product, and we're seeing a decline.
Here's the part I don't think gets said enough. Film used to be an American export. The world wanted the real thing, made here. Now other countries can make their own version, and the streamers have gotten very good at producing local language content and pushing it out globally, no import required. Less demand for the American made version means fewer productions greenlit here in the first place. That's not just a trade story. That's the job on the stage, the rental house, the caterer, everyone whose paycheck depends on a production actually happening on this soil.
Sacramento has until midnight tomorrow. Washington may move as soon as next month. "Coyote vs. Acme" just showed what happens when a good story gets a real chance.
The policy fights happening right now will decide how many more of those chances we get.
#Filmindustry #tvindustry #California #FilmIncentives #EntertainmentIndustry #Production #Hollywood #FilmPolicy
