Less than three months into the new fiscal year, my home state of California has reportedly already exhausted its entire $100 million film and television tax credit budget. They have provided credits to over 30 different projects already.
Additional subsidies, designed to keep movie jobs in the state, won’t be available until July 2011, Amy Lemisch, executive director of the California Film Commission, said in an interview. About 45 productions are on a waiting list.
California is competing with states including New York, New Mexico and Louisiana that also offer incentives to attract movie and television production. California offered tax breaks for the first time in fiscal 2010. Demand increased with awareness of the program, Lemisch said.
New York offers $420 million a year in incentives, according to the website for the state’s Office for Motion Picture & Television Development.
The California incentives can cover 20 percent to 25 percent of a movie’s production budget, according to the California Film Commission website.