The California Film Commission announced Friday that 15 film projects have been approved for the state’s recently overhauled film and television tax credit program, including Quentin Tarantino’s untitled tenth film — which he says will be his last.
“I love shooting in California. I started directing movies here and it is only fitting that I shoot my final motion picture in the cinema capital of the world,” Tarantino said in a statement. “There is nothing like shooting in my hometown; the crews are the best I’ve ever worked with, and the locations are amazing. The producers and I are thrilled to be making #10 in Los Angeles.”
Tarantino’s film was approved alongside the Sony Pictures film “Under My Skin” and an untitled Netflix project. Combined, the three studio projects are estimated by the commission to generate $362 million in qualified spending and $540 million in total production spending in California. These figures are a record for California’s tax credit program in terms of big-budget film spending generated by a single round of tax credits.
In addition, 13 independent projects have also been approved. Among them is “Chalino,” a biopic about famed corrido singer Chalino Sanchez and the short, violent life he led before being murdered at the age of 31. A project from indie production company Faith Media has also been greenlit for tax credits.
“Once again, Faith Media Distribution has been blessed with tax credits for our amazing projects that are slated to shoot in Los Angeles once the strikes are over,” said producer Yolanda Halley. “I’m a resident of California and it brings me great joy to work with locals and to take advantage of all the amazing things the state has to offer. Thank you, California Film Commission, for making my job as an independent producer more enjoyable and fulfilling while creating jobs and working from my home state.”
The projects are on track to bring $670 million in total production spending to California, including an estimated $466 million in wages for crew members and payments to production vendors. They will employ an estimated 2,422 crew members, 851 cast and 23,427 actors and stand-ins.
Due to the ongoing writers and actors strikes, which have halted film and TV production, the approved projects are expected to invoke the tax program’s force majeure clauses that pause the 180-day time limit given to approved productions to begin shooting. The projects will not receive the refundable tax credits until filming is complete.
Applications for California tax credits for TV products will be open until Sept. 13. The next round of film production applications will open on Jan. 8.
