Calif. Extends Production Tax Credit Program

Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a one-year, $100 million extension of California's film and television tax credit program late Sunday. The move drew praise from entertainment industry organizations, among them the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

"AFTRA Los Angeles members are pleased that Gov. Brown has signed A.B. 1069, which extends the California Film and Television Tax Incentive for another year," Gabrielle Carteris, president of AFTRA's L.A. local, said in a written statement. "This bill not only helps our industry, but our community as well."

Jennifer Heater, government relations manager for SAG, offered a similar view in her own written statement: "By increasing local work opportunities for 70,000 California SAG members and their entertainment industry co-workers, allowing them to live and work in the state they love and patronize local businesses, this legislation will help boost our state's fragile economy."

The program's backers, including Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes, D-Sylmar, who authored the bill, had sought a five-year extension. On Friday, the state Senate voted to pass only a one-year extension. The $100 million allotment is in line with previous annual budgets for the program.

"By creating tens of thousands of jobs and pumping billions into our economy, the film and television tax credit program has truly been a statewide economic stimulus package," Fuentes said in a written statement. "I'd like to applaud Gov. Brown's leadership in signing."

A recent study by the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. found that the first two years of the three-year-old program generated $3.8 billion in economic activity and created more than 20,000 jobs. The program has been credited with helping California retain existing work and attract new productions from out of state.