On the latest episode of Variety‘s “Strictly Business” podcast, Colleen Bell, director of the California State Film Commission, discusses her wins in her role as the Golden State’s film chief and the hurdles that remain to restore a high volume of TV and film lensing activity in Hollywood’s backyard.
Bell says the past few years have been a “seminal moment” for the entertainment industry in California. “People want to shoot their projects here. Public policy needs to evolve to meet the moment,” she says.
The state of California has never been more focused on the needs of Southern California’s creative community, the concentration of highly skilled film and TV production that has been the nucleus of the industry for more than 100 years. Bell is aware of the debate around whether the state’s recent efforts to sweeten its production tax incentive program is coming as too little too late amid the sharp downturn in lensing activity in Los Angeles County.
But there’s no debate that the state on her watch boosted its annual incentive program to $750 million, from $330 million. It became law a year ago this month after a great deal of public policy diplomacy and coalition-building by Bell and others in the Newsom administration in Sacramento.
