HBO’s TV series “Ballers” will be moving production for its third season from Miami to Los Angeles, according to the California Film Commission’s Executive Director Amy Lemisch.
“Ballers” is the seventh TV series to relocate to California by way of the expanded tax credit program that went into effect in 2015. The show is scheduled to shoot its next 10 episodes in the greater Los Angeles area, where it will employ 135 cast, 209 base crew and 5,700 extras. Production will generate an estimated $33.5 million in “qualified expenditures,” which the commission defines as wages paid to below-the-line workers on the crew, and payments to in-state vendors. Based on these figures, “Ballers” has been conditionally approved for a tax credit reservation of $8.3 million.
“In evaluating the production resources, and its evolving storylines, the producers have decided to relocate the base of production to California,” said HBO’s spokeswoman in a statement.
California’s film and television production incentives in the new program total $330 million annually, and are aimed at retaining and attracting production jobs and economic activity across the state.
The other six TV shows that have relocated to California as part of the state’s expanded tax credit program include “American Horror Story” and “Scream Queens” from Louisiana, “Mistresses” from Vancouver, “Secrets and Lies” from North Carolina, “Veep” from Maryland, and “American Crime” from Texas.
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“We’re able to match a lot of different locales,” said Lemisch, of shooting in Los Angeles. “If we level the playing field with a tax incentive, we tend to be the first choice. From the large quantities of skilled crew members, to the availability of equipment, there’s an ease to working here. It’s a much smoother way to run a production.”
In addition to “Ballers,” 22 existing TV projects in various stages of production are currently in the program. Dan Fogelman’s “Pitch” and “This Is Us” for Twentieth Century Fox are both participants in the program shooting in the Los Angeles area, as is Mesquite Production Inc.’s “Good Girls Revolt” for Amazon, which shoots in the Santa Clarita area.
Media and entertainment reporter Kristin Marguerite Doidge can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @kmarguerite_usc for the latest in L.A. media news.
