Finding Money in Hollywood Just Got Easier

SFinding Money in Hollywood Just Got Easier

For the past several years (depending on who you ask, anywhere between 10 and 30), film and TV productions have been trickling out of the Movie Capital of World and into other states and even other countries. The exodus has been blamed mainly on the tax and other financial breaks and incentives other cities — like New York, Baltimore, and even Albuquerque — have offered to productions in search of filming locations. Hollywood, on the other hand has not updated its tax incentive program for six years instead, it seems, relying on the rich history of the locations they have and the allure of the cities widely regarded name.

In that time, Hollywood’s program has become hopelessly outstripped by other cities. To make the difference clear, compare the 100 million dollar pool of incentives (doled out by a mystifying lottery system) to the 423 million offered in New York. Offered those financial choices and armed with the ability to greenscreen actors anywhere in the world afforded by modern technology, it’s no wonder even big name movies are taking their business elsewhere.

Faced with the very real potential of losing its reputation as the place to film, Hollywood is finally wising up! At the Chinese Theatre (a classic theatre in Hollywood associated with many great film premieres throughout history, including, among others, Star Wars and famed for the handprints and footprints of famous stars that line it’s forecourt) Governor Jerry Brown will sign the “California Film and Television Job Retention and Promotion Act” and officially turn the bill into a law. This bill will more than triple the amount in the incentive pool, increasing the amount from 100 million all the way to 330 million. It will also change the way those incentives are distributed, giving the boot to the blind lottery system and enacting a process that will give funds based on how many jobs a production will generate.

Hollywood may be down, but it is certainly not out thanks to this bill. And it may have come just in time with TV really starting to generate critical acclaim and momentum in the entertainment industry there are going to be more productions and more hours of filming than ever this coming season. Dust off the cameras, Tinseltown is back!