Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB2319 into law on Friday, establishing a new California tax credit aimed at post-production workers, even when the productions employing them filmed outside the state. The same day, Newsom also signed AB186, which exempts certain productions from existing caps on California's film and television tax credits.
AB2319 extends its new credit to workers across picture editorial, sound, music, visual effects and finishing. The Motion Picture Editors Guild and the California Post Alliance co-sponsored the bill, describing it as "a necessary step to level the playing field for editors, assistant editors, mixers and other post-production workers who have seen their work lured away to other states and countries with powerful tax incentives." The program will launch with $10 million in initial funding.
"This is a historic day for Editors Guild members and for California's film and TV workers more broadly," said Editors Guild National Executive Director Scott George in a statement. "AB 186 ensures that the California Film and TV Tax Credit Program continues to drive the recovery of our industry in its historic home, while AB 2319 will complement the program by making sure that even projects shooting outside of our state can come back to California to employ Editors Guild members in post-production." George also credited Assemblymember Nick Schultz, other legislators, the California IATSE Council, and the California Post Alliance for their support.
The post-production bill cleared the Assembly and Senate with broad, bipartisan backing at the close of the legislative session. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was among the local leaders who pushed for the measure.
Editors Guild President F. Hudson Miller credited both lawmakers and union members for the outcome. "We owe this victory not only to lawmakers and, of course, to Gov. Newsom, but also to the activism of our members and partners," Miller said. "Post-production professionals work behind the scenes in dark rooms, unseen, to craft entertainment that dazzles. But for months our union has asked members to get out there and make some noise in order to save our industry. They absolutely delivered."
AB2319 builds on California's Film and Television Tax Credit Program 4.0, passed last year, which allocated $750 million to encourage in-state filming and counter runaway production.
In his own statement, Newsom said, "California is the nation's entertainment capital. It is the home of storytellers, dreamers, artists, entrepreneurs, and creators who define culture for the rest of the world. This legislation protects the extraordinary people who make this industry possible and makes it unmistakably clear: California is still the future of film and television. We have the talent. We have the infrastructure. We have the creative community. And we have an ecosystem that simply cannot be replicated anywhere else."
Photo: Office of the California Governor, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
