In an increasingly tit-for-tat race for production dollars, the California Film Commission has lured Apple TV+’s Bad Monkey to relocate from Florida.
The title, which will get roughly $20.6 million, was one of ten projects announced by the state’s film office on Wednesday that will receive tax credits for shooting in California. Other productions include an untitled Disney miniseries ($14.7 million), Whalefall ($10.4 million) and NCIS: Origins ($5.7 million).
As runaway production and Hollywood cost-cutting threatens the state’s hold on the film and television business, Gov. Gavin Newsom in October proposed vastly increasing the cap on production tax credits from $330 million to $750 million a year. If passed, the subsidy would be the most generous offered by any state except Georgia, which doesn’t have a ceiling on the amount it gives to productions per year.
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Further changes to the program have yet to be finalized. Potential amendments could affect the maximum amount a single production can receive in tax relief and what types of expenditures qualify for incentives.
The initiative is meant to curb productions increasingly opting to shoot outside of California and in other states and countries that offer more tax credits. In L.A., production is at historically low levels, with the three-month period from July to September seeing the fewest number of shoot days this year. The figure falls short of filming in the region when the industry was halted by strikes from actors and writers.
“We are working hard to keep productions filming in California,” said Colleen Bell, Director of the California Film Commission. “These tax credits help us keep jobs here in our state and drive economic growth, but the impact goes beyond the entertainment industry – it supports families, local businesses, and communities statewide.”
In addition to Bad Monkey, 20th Television’s Imperfect Women will nab $12.5 million in tax credits for shooting in the state. The psychological thriller, adapted from a book of the same name, follows a crime that shatters a decades-long friendship of three women.
“It’s a tremendous honor to be able to film Imperfect Women in Los Angeles thanks to the California Film Commission’s Tax Credit,” said Kerry Washington, who also executive produced the series, in a statement. “It’s exciting to know that this invaluable program will allow us to keep production close to home while also supporting the talented artists and artisans here in LA that make storytelling possible.”
In total, the titles selected to receive tax credits are expected to spend $509 million in California, including $276 million in below-the-line wages. They’ll employ 1,666 cast members, 1,917 crew members and 28,404 background performers across 835 days of shooting.
The film commission, in an effort to retain more productions, has added three application windows to participate in the tax incentive program.
Other states and countries are steadily beefing up their tax incentive programs. In June, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a bill allowing game, national talk and contest-based shows, among other reality TV, to receive tax credits for shooting in the state. This followed Japan unveiling an incentive scheme offering reimbursement of up to 50 percent of qualifying expenditures in the country.
