The California Film Commission has awarded tax credits to seven television shows, including the first new series project in three years.
The seven shows will spend $713 million in the state, with nearly $470 million going to wages for below-the-line workers and payments to in-state vendors.
With additional funding provided in the budget, the commission announced on July 18 that five new series and two relocating series are among the projects to receive tax credits, according to a release from the commission.
The new series – “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” (Lucasfilm), “My Glory” (WB Discovery), “Presumed Innocent” (WB Discovery), “The Residence” (Netflix) and “The Sympathizer” (HBO) – are the first new TV series accepted into the tax credit program since 2019, the commission’s release said.
“The absence of new TV series was due to the large number of recurring series already in the program,” the release explained, adding that the budget agreement hammered out by lawmakers in Sacramento increased funding for the tax credit program over a two-year period.
Commission Executive Director Colleen Bell said that increased investment in the tax credit program strengthens California’s ability to compete with other states and countries to continue building on its status as the world’s media-production capital.
“We are, once again, welcoming new TV series into the program, which creates jobs and economic opportunity here in the Golden State,” Bell said in a statement.
By far, the project with the largest qualified spend is Lucasfilm’s “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew,” which is on track for nearly $136 million in qualified expenditures during its first season. The new series, coming to Disney+ in 2023, follows a group of kids lost in the “Star Wars” galaxy who are trying to find their way home. It stars Jude Law, with executive producers that include Jon Favreau and Kathleen Kennedy, according to the commission’s release.
The current round of tax credits also includes two relocating series – “Killing It” (NBC Universal) moving from Louisiana, and “Rap Sh!t” (HBO) from Florida. With these two shows, the commission has given tax credits to 27 relocating TV series from other states and nations, the release said.
“Killing It” co-showrunners, writers and executive producers Luke Del Treidici and Dan Goor affirmed the tax credit program’s impact on their decision to relocate production from New Orleans.
“‘Killing It’ is a show about dreams coming true, so it’s only fitting we would pack up our bags and move to Hollywood,” Del Treidici said in a statement.
“We are thrilled to be making season two in California, which not only has amazing crews and the best facilities but is also where our children are located,” Goor said in a statement.
