Despite a very rocky quarter 2, Netflix has managed to take the top spot in one thing- California Film Commission tax credits, that is. It’s always good to see the film industry thrive, however, and incentive plans have been a key part of deciding where to film. Brandon Blake, entertainment lawyer with Blake & Wang P.A, breaks down the details.
$37.1M in Incentives
With $37.1M in incentives issued to Netflix-backed productions, they beat out both MGM ($19.6M) and Warner Bros Pictures ($12.6M), for the top spot. While they unseat HBO from the last round, they’ve held this particular ‘title’ twice before in recent history.
These credits were utilized for both the Zach Snyder production, Rebel Moon: Part 2, and a so-far untitled offering. Ironically, Part 1 of the same sci-fi adventure film series took tax credits last year. We also saw several indie films receive credits, including Sofia Coppola’s so-far untitled project with Peppermint Road.
A Different Incentive Scheme
Unlike other high-production states (particularly Georgia), California only allows for certain aspects of the movie’s budget to be claimed- with talent compensation notably missing. However, LA hardly lacks in resources for the film and entertainment industries, and maintains a high-profile status in filming locations.
To date, there’s been $93.7M reserved in credits, across 18 movies. Annually, they designate $330M in credits for shooting in the state. The last two years have seen it raised by a further $90M, to offset concerns about productions moving to other areas with even juicier incentive programs. It’s estimated that this will generate about $915M in spending throughout the area this year.
For the 18 films receiving the feature film tax credit, there were 57 total applications. The next application period will be from Jan. 30-Feb. 6, 2023 for films and Sept. 19-26 for TV series.
Film and Television 