Editors Guild Praises California’s New Post-Production Tax Credit Law As “Historic” — SkimNews
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- Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 2319 alongside companion bill AB 186 on Friday, creating a new tax credit covering picture editorial, sound, music, visual effects, and finishing, and exempting certain productions from existing tax credit caps.
- The Motion Picture Editors Guild called the legislation "historic," with National Executive Director Scott George saying AB 2319 lets projects shooting outside California still bring post-production work back to the state.
- The bill was framed by co-sponsors the Editors Guild and California Post Alliance as a way to "level the playing field" for editors, mixers, and other post-production workers whose work has been lured to other states and countries with aggressive incentives.
- AB 2319 passed with broad bipartisan support in both the Assembly and Senate at the end of the legislative session, with advocacy from LA Mayor Karen Bass, the California IATSE Council, and Assemblymember Nick Schultz.
- The law receives $10 million in initial startup funding and complements the Film and Television Tax Credit Program 4.0 passed last year, which allocates $750 million to incentivize in-state filming.
- Editors Guild President F. Hudson Miller credited rank-and-file member activism for the win, saying post-production professionals who "work behind the scenes in dark rooms, unseen" got out and "made some noise" to save the industry.
Why it matters: Post-production crews—editors, sound mixers, VFX artists, finishers—have watched work migrate to other states and countries offering aggressive incentives, even when the main shoot stays in LA. AB 2319's $10M credit targets that exact leakage by rewarding post-production work even on projects that don't shoot in California, giving the specialized workforce a financial reason to stay.
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