Editors Guild Praises California’s New Post-Production Tax Credit Law As “Historic”

The Motion Picture Editors Guild is praising California’s bill offering tax incentives for productions that shoot outside the state but bring their post work to California.

The bill, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom yesterday, expands the state’s film and television tax credit program and creates a new tax credit to support workers in all areas of post-production, including picture editorial, sound, music, visual effects, and finishing.

“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 today. “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 praised Assemblymember Nick Schultz and “all the legislators who recognize the value of entertainment industry workers to our state’s economy, to the California IATSE Council for its powerful advocacy, and, of course, to our partners in the California Post Alliance.”

Newsom signed the bill AB2319 into law Friday, also signing AB186, which exempts certain productions from caps on tax credits.

The post-production bill was overwhelmingly passed the Assembly and Senate at the end of the legislative session, receiving broad, bipartisan support. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass advocated for the measure, as did other local leaders in Southern California. Initial funding of $10 million will be allocated to get the program started

The Editors Guild and the California Post Alliance co-sponsored the bill, which they say is “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.”

“We owe this victory not only to lawmakers and, of course, to Gov. Newsom, but also to the activism of our members and partners,” said F. Hudson Miller, President of the Editors Guild. “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.”

The post-production bill complements California’s Film and Television Tax Credit Program 4.0, passed last year, which provides $750 million to incentivize in-state filming and address runaway production to other areas.

Newsom said in a statement, “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.”