22 feature films have been selected to receive a round of tax credits from the state for filming within California, and among them are the remake of “Scarface” written by the Coen Brothers as well as new films by Eva Longoria, Steven Soderbergh and Jason Bateman.
The California Film Commission selected 11 indie and 11 studio projects in this latest round of the Film & TV Tax Credit Program, with 61 projects applying during the latest period, and the state setting aside $86.9 million in tax credit allocations. The California Film Commission’s executive director Colleen Bell says this latest round of projects to bring in $642 million in overall in-state spending, with more than $430 million going to below-the-line workers and in-state vendors.
Among the larger projects on the list is “Here Comes the Flood” for Netflix, which is directed and produced by Jason Bateman. Netflix also has the film “Me Time,” which is a comedy starring Kevin Hart.
From Universal is the remake of “Scarface,” which is directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by the Coen Brothers. There’s also Eva Longoria’s “Flamin Hot,” Steven Soderbergh’s “Kimi” and a film produced by Reese Witherspoon called “Ashley’s War.”
More than half of these 22 projects are planning a significant portion of their production outside the Los Angeles 30-Mile Studio Zone, and nine of the 11 independent projects were also accepted into the tax credit program’s recently added $10 million-and-under qualified spending category which reserves credits specifically for lower-budget independent films. The largest among these (with $9.95 million in qualified spending) is the Sammy Davis Jr. romance drama “Scandalous!” starring Jeremy Pope.
Taken together, the 22 projects will employ an estimated 2,546 crew, 695 cast and 26,13 background actors/stand-ins over a combined 718 filming days in California. They will also generate significant post-production jobs and revenue for California VFX artists, sound editors, sound mixers, musicians and other workers/vendors.
Production spending and employment will be spread across multiple counties, as 16 of the 22 projects plan a total of 304 filming days outside the 30 mile zone, accounting for nearly 42 percent of filming days (see “Program Year 1 – Allocation # 4 Out-of-Zone Filming” chart below). With the projects announced today, California’s tax credit program has incentivized more than 60 out-of-zone film and TV projects.
The next application period for feature films will be held in July (specific dates TBD), while the next application period for recurring and relocating TV series will be held March 8-15.