The Motion Picture Editors Guild has become a co-sponsor of the postproduction tax credit bill winding its way through the California legislature, giving extra momentum to an effort aimed at combatting the exodus of entertainment work from the state.
The IATSE-affiliated union joined state Assemblymember Nick Schultz’s bill AB 2319 after working with the legislator and the grassroots group the California Post Alliance (CAPA) on amendments, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. The California IATSE Council, the state political division of the crew union IATSE, has additionally penned a statement in favor of the bill ahead of its consideration in the state Senate’s Revenue and Taxation Committee.
Postproduction expenses on films and TV shows can already qualify for tax credits in California if physical production also occurs in the state. But Schultz’s bill aims to lure editing, VFX, sound mixing, scoring and other types of post opportunities for projects that shoot in California and don’t receive a production tax credit or for projects where physical production takes place outside California. The bill offers a 35 percent base tax credit for these kinds of productions that locate their post work in state.
