Veep Explores Leaving Maryland, Heading for California

HBO series Veep, which had a sound stage in Columbia, may be moving on from Maryland.

The Emmy-award-winning show filmed its pilot in Maryland in early 2011 and has continued filming here ever since.

Veep stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus, best known for playing Towson native Elaine Benes on Seinfeld, as the vice president and subsequent President of the United States. It has filmed in Annapolis, Columbia, Sykesville and Towson, according to The Baltimore Sun.

However, producers say they are “exploring their next steps” since California has offered the show a $6.5 million tax credit to move its production there, an HBO spokesperson told the Associated Press.

California has set aside $25 million for productions that relocate from out-of-state; Veep, American Horror Story, Secrets and Lies and Hindsight have all been offered a $6.5 million piece of the pie, according to Variety.

Maryland is reviewing its return on investment with regards to film tax credits, which are set to expire in June 2016.

The Department of Legislative Services advised lawmakers to allow the tax credit to expire July 1, 2016, encouraging the state to focus on incentives encouraging permanent employment.

The matter is still up for debate, with Gov. Larry Hogan set to decide by July 1 what incentives the state will offer to filmmakers, according to The Baltimore Sun.

“We’re hoping they stay,” Karen Hood, Maryland Business and Economic Development spokeswoman, told WBAL.

• Tax Credit for House of Cards, Other Productions May Fold
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus Compares Columbia to Prison
• Veep Films in Towson for HBO Show’s Fourth Season

Louis-Dreyfus may not be too bent out of shape about leaving Maryland, specifically Columbia.

“As far as I can tell, it’s home to one of the dreariest American landscapes imaginable: office parks, chain malls and a cluster of Northeast-corridor warehouses for Sears and the like,” a New York Magazine journalist wrote after interviewing Louis-Dreyfus about the experience in Columbia in 2013.

“Thank God the work’s good,” Louis-Dreyfus said. “Can you imagine if it wasn’t? It would be like a prison.”’

In response, Columbians created a campaign around #AwesomeColumbia to call out all the things they love about their city, a hashtag that has continued into perpetuity.

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Pictured, the cast of Veep at the Maryland state house, with former Gov. Martin O’Malley. Photo Credit: @GovernorOMalley.