Krekorian-Sponsored Film, TV Tax Credit Working, Report Finds

The state's tax credit for film and television productions, enacted in 2009 to keep industry jobs in California and generate revenue for state and local governments, is working, according to a report released today by the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation.

The study found that the tax credit supported more than 20,000 jobs in the state and generated about $3.8 billion in economic output.

About 5 percent of that went back to state and local governments in the form of income, property, insurance and sales taxes, along with permits and fees, according to the report.

Legislators passed a five-year credit in 2009 worth about $100 million per year in order to stop a steady flow of film and TV production to states like Louisiana, North Carolina and Michigan, as well as other countries, which created their own tax incentives long before California.

The California incentive offers a 20 percent tax credit to productions that spend between $1 million and $75 million and spend at least three-quarters of their production days or total budget in the state. A 25 percent credit is offered to certain television productions and made-for-TV movies.

"If our state government is serious about getting Californians back to work, we must be aggressive in preserving the industry that creates so many middle class jobs and supports so many local businesses both small and large,"

City Councilman Paul Krekorian, who authored the 2009 production incentives, said.

Krekorian was part of a coalition calling today for the Legislature to extend the tax credit another five years.

He was joined by Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes and television producer Matthew Gross to release the LAEDC study on the set of ABC's Body of Proof, which Gross brought back to California because of the credit.

"While anecdotally we heard the tax credit program was working, today, because of this report we are able to say definitively that the tax credit program has been a resounding success," said Fuentes, who has introduced a bill that would extend the credit. It passed the Assembly on a 77-1 vote and is awaiting a vote in the Senate.

The City News Service contributed to this report.