‘Clueless’ Sequel and ‘Rockford Files’ Reboot Among TV Projects Awarded California Tax Credits
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- California Film and Television Tax Credit Program awarded credits to nine television productions, projected to generate $608 million in direct in-state spending across 1,014 filming days, per Gov. Gavin Newsom's office.
- CBS Studios' "Clueless" sequel for Paramount+ received an estimated $16 million tax credit, with Alicia Silverstone set to reprise her role as Cher Horowitz — a move Silverstone framed as bringing "Cher home" to Los Angeles.
- Universal Television's "The Rockford Files" reboot received an estimated $21 million tax credit, with David Boreanaz taking over the Jim Rockford role originated by James Garner in the 1970s series.
- Other credits went to Jamie Lee Curtis' "Newlyweds" ($5.8M), Viola Davis' "Ascent" ($21M), "Love Comes Softly" ($7.3M), "SWAT Exiles" ($16M), an Amazon comedy ($11.6M), and an unnamed Disney Entertainment Television scripted series that took the largest share at $45 million.
- Netflix received $1.2 million for an animated series under the program's recently expanded eligibility for animation.
- Year one of the expanded program covered 170 projects with $6.6 billion in direct production spend, and application volume grew 82% versus the prior year, per the California Film Commission.
- The credits are California's response to production flight: CBS Studios president David Stapf tied the credits to sustaining "California's creative workforce," and Curtis called the incentive "a lifeline" for Los Angeles-based union crew.
Why it matters: California is concentrating the largest single payouts on legacy IP — a $45M unnamed Disney series, plus Clueless and Rockford Files reboots — tying the state's biggest production subsidies to nostalgia franchises rather than new originals, even as overall application volume is up 82% year-over-year.
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