California’s production tax credit program has attracted HBO’s”‘In Treatment” and TBS’s “Miracle Workers.”
The California Film Commission announced Monday that the drama series “In Treatment” is relocating from New York and that the “Miracle Workers” anthology comedy is moving from the Czech Republic. The state’s production tax credit program requires recipients to begin production within 180 days.
“In Treatment” and “Miracle Workers” will each receive a $5 million tax credit that can be applied once production has been completed. The shows bring the number of TV series that have relocated to California during the past five years under the state’s tax credit program to 20. The other shows include “Penny Dreadful: City of Angels,” “Good Girls,” “You,” “Sneaky Pete,” “Legion,” “Ballers” and “Veep.”
In 2015, the size of the program was tripled to $330 million annually to compete effectively with New York and Georgia, and it was then extended to 2025 with a credit of up to 25% of qualified expenditures spent in California.
The commission also announced Monday that there are 25 legacy TV series, who were previous recipients of the credits, selected for the inaugural round of tax credits under California’s Film and Television Tax Credit Program 3.0 — which launched July 1, concurrent with the state’s new fiscal year.
Recurring programs include “13 Reasons Why,” “American Crime Story,” “American Horror Story,” “Animal Kingdom,” “Dream,” “Dropout,” “Euphoria,” “Good Girls,” “Good Trouble,” “Grease,” “Lucifer,” “Mayans,” “The Orville,” “Penny Dreadful: City of Angels,” “Perry Mason,” “The Rookie,” “S.W.A.T.,” “Snowfall,” “Special,” “Star Trek Picard,” “This is Us,” “Westworld,” “Why Women Kill,” “You” and Showtime’s untitled Lakers project.
The commission said “In Treatment” and “Miracle Workers” will spend a combined $40 million on below-the-line wages and other qualified expenditures during their first seasons in California. It also said their overall in-state spending will be significantly greater than “qualified” spending with the inclusion of above-the-line wages and other expenditures that do not qualify for incentives under the tax credit program.
“Program 3.0 is off to a great start with the two relocating TV series announced today,” said California Film Commission executive director Colleen Bell. “As the industry adjusts to the circumstances presented by COVID-19, it’s encouraging to see projects reinvest here and bring new production jobs and spending to California.”
“We are very grateful for the relocation incentive and the opportunity to base more production in California,” said HBO production executive vice president Janet Graham Borba. “The state’s ongoing efforts to promote film and TV production have a very significant impact.”
To date, a total of 151 television projects have been selected for tax credits since Program 2.0 was launched in 2015. Program 3.0 includes a pilot skills training program to help individuals from underserved communities, along with provisions requiring projects to have a written policy for addressing unlawful harassment, and enhanced reporting of cast and crew employment diversity data.
California gave its blessing on June 5 for film and TV production to resume, subject to approval from county public health authorities. On June 11, Los Angeles County issued extensive regulations for a staged resumption of film and TV production.
Feature films covered under the California program have included “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” “Captain Marvel,” “Bumblebee,” “Space Jam 2” and “Sherlock Holmes 3.” The commission announced on June 29 that Cate Blanchett’s untitled Lucille Ball biopic and Sylvester Stallone’s “Little America” were among a dozen projects selected for a total of $40 million tax credit allocations.
For more stats on projects covered by the California Film and TV Tax Credit Program, click here.