Over the last few weeks, we've covered the idea of bringing production back to the United States. It began even before the Trump Tariffs, as California mobilized after the fires to try to get work here to help people who are struggling. But right off the bat, we knew this was going to be a much harder issue than just shooting things here. Let's dive in. Why Production Left Shooting film and TV in the United States, especially California, is prohibitively expensive. Giant corporations are public entities built to make money, and they saw a windfall of it if they just shot things outside of the US, where rebates made it much easier. America was significantly behind other countries when it came to tax incentives and rebates, and California had so much red tape and was so expensive to shoot that even goodwill after the fires was not going to convince large corporations to change their course. There were millions, if not billions of dollars at stake. Bringing production back to the USA, and California specifically, is very tricky. It's going to take a much more intricate plan than just lowering costs. The reason is that production has already left. Only 20% of all USA movie and TV production occurs in California now, down from 66% in 2003. That exodus over the last 20 years has cost the state billions. According to reports, for every 71 projects that leave California, the state loses $1.6B in economic activity, and a 2022...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Wednesday, 21 May