A flood of new TV shows could be filmed in Los Angeles this summer under new incentives being rushed through by the California Film Commission, which voted Thursday to try and speed up implementation of the television regulations in the state’s new production credit program . . .
Also, as announced last week, it has moved its headquarters from the Cahuenga Pass to Austin, Texas. The Digital Turbine subsidiary already had offices in Austin.
A contract dispute between commercial producers and Teamsters Local 399 has escalated, raising the prospect of the first Hollywood strike by the union in nearly two decades..
A few steps from the concrete footprints of Clark Gable and Bette Davis, the Democratic governor took the front-and-center seat among a crowd of dignitaries to celebrate the tax break he had come to sign into law at a desk below the theater’s decorative dragons.
Preliminary statistics from the BLS show that employment in those two industries has dropped to 298,000 in August — marking the first time in the past decade that the number has dropped below 300,000, and representing an 8% decline from 324,600 jobs in August 2013, and a 19% slide from 366,300 jobs in August 2012.
The agreement increases the tax credit to $330 million a year for the next five years. It also replaces the current lottery system with a ranking based on how many new jobs a production creates. While the agreement falls short of the $400 million approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee two weeks ago, it more than triples the current tax credit of $100 million.
Permits issued for X-rated productions have fallen by 90% since 2012, when Los Angeles County voters passed Measure B in November of that year after a campaign contending that the law would protect performers from outbreaks of sexually transmitted diseases. The porn industry had opposed the measure, asserting that mandatory testing of actors for HIV was effective.
A first-time analysis of projects that applied to the Program but were denied due to insufficient availability of tax credits. Of those projects that were subsequently produced, a small minority elected to shoot in California without benefit of the Program. Instead, the overwhelming majority of projects denied for California tax credits opted to shoot outside the state in jurisdictions where tax credits are available.
With films like G.I Joe, The Butler and Enders Game shot in the Bayou State, last year it topped Film L.A.’s Feature Film Production Study as the number 1 location for motion picture filming. From 2002 to 2012 (the last year data was available), the industry created more than 14,000 jobs — more than half of which were between 2010 and 2012, according to the Louisiana Department of Economic Development.
Most film and television productions turned down for a subsidy from the state of California over a recent four-year period ended up shooting in other states or countries, according to a new report released Wednesday.
Hollywood’s largest union representing actors and other performers has secured a new film and TV contract that will provide modest pay hikes for its approximately 165,000 members.
In a blow to San Diego’s economy, Active Network will relocate to Dallas thanks in part to an $8.6 million check from the Texas Government.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced Thursday that the Active Network, which specializes in cloud-based software, will open a headquarters in downtown Dallas, and create 1,000 jobs at an average salary of $72,000 per year. This is the second San Diego company owned by Vista Equity to be lured to Texas this year. In February, Perry authorized $4.5 million to Websense to move its headquarters to Austin.
SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said late Monday night that they have agreed to a 24-hour extension of the film and TV contracts that were set to expire at midnight June 30.
The Culver City firm behind many YouTube stars will lay off about 10% of its 380 employees, a person close to the digital media company said on Monday.
The Assembly voted in favor of AB 1839, which would renew and increase a state tax credit — amounting to as much as $400 million a year — to better compete with generous tax subsidies available in such states as New York, Louisiana and Georgia, as well as in Canada and Britain.