California: Governor Newsom applauds federal film and TV tax credit bill, answering his call to keep production in America

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Sep 24, 2026

Governor Newsom applauds federal film and TV tax credit bill, answering his call to keep production in America

California's expanded Film and TV Tax Credit Program is driving jobs and new projects, and the Governor just signed new laws to build on that success

What you need to know: The Governor issued support for the Motion Picture, Television, and Entertainment Revitalization Act, introduced in Congress by Senators Adam Schiff and Tim Scott and U.S. Representatives Nathaniel Moran, and Linda Sanchez, would create a 20% federal film and TV tax credit that can be stacked with state programs, delivering much-needed support to productions across the country. It follows the Governor's May 2025 call for a federal credit and the recent expansion of California's successful tax credit.

SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom applauded today's announcement of the Motion Picture, Television, and Entertainment Revitalization Act, which would establish a national film and TV production tax credit. In May 2025, the Governor called on Congress to create a federal incentive to support the entertainment industry, not just in California but across the country. As countries around the world roll out increasingly generous incentives, film and TV production is leaving the US for international territories. States with their own programs have been competing on their own, without a national incentive to help keep American productions and jobs at home.

California is the entertainment capital of the world. We have the talent, infrastructure, and the creativity to support it — and we are making historic investments to keep production here. But this is bigger than our state alone. I support this bipartisan effort to ensure that this industry can compete globally to protect the jobs, businesses and communities that depend on it. In the meantime, we will continue to produce world-leading productions in the Golden State, because when California shines, so does the rest of the nation.

Governor Gavin Newsom

"This is a tremendous moment for America's film and television industry. A federal incentive, paired with California's historic investment in production, sends a powerful message that we are serious about keeping jobs, talent and storytelling here at home," said Colleen Bell, Director, California Film Commission. "I applaud the bi-partisan leadership behind this effort and am excited about what it means for the workers, businesses and communities that power this iconic American industry."

California's results show it works

California expanded its own program in July 2025, raising the annual credit from $330 million to $750 million, a $3.75 billion investment over five years through 2030. The first year of Program 4.0 delivered:

• Applications up 82% compared to the previous year.
• $7.2 billion in direct production spending to date, including $4.7 billion in qualified expenditures and $2.7 billion in qualified wages.
• 237,000 background performers measured in days worked.
• Year over year, film shoot days increased by 52% with TV shoot days also increasing by more than 7%.
• More than 7,600 California filming days, including 1,366 out-of-zone days, ensuring the benefits reach counties and regions across the state.
• Nearly 38,000 cast and crew jobs created.

Last week, Governor Newsom signed into law AB 2319, which creates a tax credit for post-production work supporting the editors, visual effects artists, musicians, and other creatives who bring film and television to life, as well as SB186 which make the credits more valuable by enhancing refundability and providing exemptions for independent productions.

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Where the credits are going

In the TV category, 20 new series and six pilots received tax credits during the first year of Program 4.0. By comparison, only eight new series received tax credits during the last year of Program 3.0. Notable TV projects from the past year include:

• Fallout (Season 3)
• Forever (Season 2)
• Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness
• NCIS: Origins (Season 3)
• The Pitt (Season 3)
• Presumed Innocent (Season 2)
• The Studio (Season 2)

In the film category, animated projects became eligible with the passage of AB 1138 (Zbur & Allen, 2025).  Awarded film projects in the first year of Program 4.0 include:

• Donkey
• Gingerbread Men
• Gold Mountain
• Heat 2
• Untitled Jumanji installment
• The Simpsons Movie 2
• A Snoop Dogg biopic
• Additional projects from A24, Artists Equity, Blumhouse, The Walt Disney Company Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. and NBCUniversal.

Productions supported by the California Film and Television tax credit program won 21 awards across six shows at the 2026 Emmys. The Pitt won Outstanding Drama Series and Noah Wyle won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for the second consecutive year.  Fallout, which relocated to California for season 2 won the Emmy for Outstanding Fantasy / Sci-Fi Costumes.

Since its inception in 2009, California's Film & Television Tax Credit Program has generated over $34.2 billion in economic activity and supported more than 243,000 cast and crew jobs across the state. In years past, for every $1.00 of tax credit awarded, California has seen massive returns: $24.40 in economic output, $16.14 in GDP, and $8.60 in wages. The expanded program, now one of the largest capped film incentives in the nation, maintains California's competitive edge in the creative economy while continuing to prioritize workforce diversity provisions, more funding for the Career Pathways Training Program, and the nation's first Safety on Production Pilot Program.

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