TV Academy Backs AB 2319 Post-Production Tax Credit
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- The Television Academy endorsed AB 2319 at a California Post Alliance town hall at Evergreen Studios in Burbank attended by about 200 people, citing its 20,000+ California members as the reason post-production work should be kept in-state.
- Assemblyman Nick Schultz (D-Burbank) is championing AB 2319, which would create a 35%-50% tax credit for post-production work done in California even when filming happens elsewhere; the bill has passed the Assembly's Arts, Entertainment, Sports & Tourism Committee and the Revenue & Taxation Committee, and now sits in Appropriations with a $100 million budget request, and Schultz pledged to reintroduce it every year until it passes.
- California's post-production sector has lost more than 4,400 jobs and $500 million in annual wages — broken down as $268 million in direct wages, $120 million in supplier wages, and $119.5 million in worker-spending wages — according to figures presented at the meeting.
- AB 2319's music-scoring provisions make it the first California legislation to specifically incentivize music scoring, addressing work that has shifted to London, Prague, Vienna, and Bratislava; contractor Peter Rotter noted LA's Fox, Sony, and Warner scoring stages often sit empty while London stages stay booked.
- CAPA treasurer Jennifer Freed said the credit would be earned when a company spends at least 75% of its post-production budget in California (or $1 million, whichever is less), adding: "Even if a project didn't shoot here, let's finish it here."
- Visual-effects craftspeople raised concerns during Q&A that the bill's VFX language focuses on post-production, missing pre-visualization work that begins during pre-production; Schultz encouraged ongoing dialogue on revisions as the bill moves through the legislature.
Why it matters: With California having lost 4,400 post-production jobs and $500 million in annual wages, AB 2319's Appropriations Committee deadline (the following Friday) is the critical gatekeeper: if the bill survives, it heads for a full Assembly floor vote within weeks with a $100 million budget request backing a 35%-50% credit that, for the first time, specifically targets music scoring work now flowing to London and other overseas hubs. The Television Academy's 20,000-member endorsement adds organized political weight to a bill Schultz has called "our last opportunity to bring back equality and competition with the rest of the world."
