California
Alarming Production Drop Spurs Gavin Newsom to Propose Doubling Tax Credits to Hollywood
MasterChef. Supergirl. The Kelly Clarkson Show. These productions all initially filmed in California but were convinced to leave at least in part due to more lucrative tax credits in others regions. Now, as runaway production and Hollywood cost-cutting threatens the state’s hold on the film and television business, Gov. Gavin Newsom is stepping in.
An early budget proposal looks to vastly increase California’s current cap for a program that provides tax relief to producers across the business from $330 million to $750 million a year, Newsom is set to reveal on Sunday. The expansion would shower as much as $3.75 billion in tax credits to the industry over five years starting in 2025.
If passed, the subsidy would be the most generous offered by any state except Georgia, which doesn’t have a ceiling on the amount it gives to productions per year. That includes New York, Hollywood’s second most-popular destination that California has increasingly been exchanging blows in a fight for productions amid a highly-competitive incentives race to attract Hollywood dollars.
“This means that film production can stay,” says Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass. “It means that all of the jobs that would be lost, because they they would go to another state or overseas, would stay here.”
Further changes to the program have yet to be finalized. Potential amendments could affect the maximum amount a single production can receive in tax relief and what types of expenditures qualify for incentives.
“We’ll be taking into consideration a range of additions and potential fixes to the existing program,” says Colleen Bell, director of the California Film Commission, which oversees film and TV production throughout the state. “Everyone is in the business of luring production away from California. We have to invest in our lead and preserve jobs for Californians so they can do the jobs they love to do and put paychecks in their pockets.”
The move arrives after months of entertainment industry workers in the Los Angeles area speaking out about a lack of employment opportunities in the iconic production hub. In the wake of the 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes, local crew members and creatives described an anemic return to production as major companies sought to slash costs and the era of Peak TV came to a screeching halt.
For some of these workers, the financial difficulties during the strikes and their aftermath have been significant: people have sold homes, lived out of cars and RVs and frequented food banks, with some leaving the business entirely for other fields. Increasing tax incentives to productions across the state emerged as a proposed remedy for the situation in June during labor negotiations for crew members who belong to the Los Angeles-area Hollywood Basic Crafts union coalition.
A month later, Bass formed a taskforce to promote recovery of the industry in Los Angeles after production was disrupted the pandemic, strikes and industry contraction. Among its top priorities have been expanding the state’s tax film and TV tax credit program.
“This was the number one item on their agenda,” Bass says.
New data released on Oct. 16 shows that filming in L.A. is approaching historically low levels, with the three-month period from July to September seeing the fewest number of shoot days this year. The figure even falls short of shooting in the region during the same time last year, when the industry was halted by the work stoppage. Among the biggest causes for concern is a steep drop in unscripted TV production. Last quarter, shooting for the category fell roughly 56 percent compared to the same period last year. Filming for TV shows, long an anchor of filming in the area, continues to decline as every category of scripted production trails historical norms.
Directors Guild of America associate national executive director and western executive director Rebecca Rhine stresses that production in the state is currently in “real peril.” She adds that the governor’s proposal “provides an important acknowledgement that this is an industry that we want to keep in California.”
According to Rhine, the DGA and other industry unions have “spent a lot of time” talking to Newsom’s administration about their production concerns — “the high level of unemployment, the amount of work leaving the country, the inability to compete effectively with incentives elsewhere,” she says. “And I think that the governor was listening.” Rhine emphasizes that the film industry provides middle-class jobs with benefits to industry workers and brings work to various local vendors and indirect beneficiaries in the state, from dry cleaning services to florists.
Newsom’s proposal aims to mitigate one of the major issues with California’s film and TV tax incentive program: Too many productions applying for the subsidies. These projects, when rejected, leave for other states and countries. Since 2020, the state lost $1.6 billion in spending from productions that applied for but didn’t receive a tax credit, according to the California Film Commission.
“It can’t be denied that one of the primary considerations for where projects shoot is whether they receive a tax credit,” Bell says. “Our program has been oversubscribed for a long time. We have this cap so we’ve had to turn away qualified productions that then go and take their projects elsewhere, along with jobs for Californians.”
With tax credits, productions may more easily be able to stomach higher costs for labor and shooting permits, among others things, in California compared to other regions.
Still, the state will continue to face stiff competition. The 20 percent base credit offered by California is lower than most competitive film hubs, including New York, New Mexico and the U.K. It’s also the only major production hub that bars any portion of above-the-line costs, like salaries for actors, directors and producers from qualifying for incentives. It’s an idiosyncrasy that the U.K. and Canada, another filming hotspot that has the added advantage of beneficial exchange rates and lower labor costs, have leveraged to become premier destinations for features.
California also doesn’t offer a standalone tax credit for visual effects. Several productions outsource postproduction work to countries that offer generous subsidies on this front, resulting in many VFX companies based in the state creating offshoots overseas.
Canada and Australia offer the most lucrative tax relief on this front. Productions can get at least 30 percent of their post, digital and VFX spend back in those regions. In March, the U.K. unveiled a five percent bump and removal of the 80 percent cap for VFX costs in the country to stay competitive.
In addition to increasing the cap, the California Film Commission has cited the lack of a tax credit solely for VFX work to the governor’s office. “We’re in it to win it,” Bell says.
Compared to California, other regions have weathered industry contraction better. Some data indicates that competing international film hubs are seeing flat, or in some cases slightly rising, levels of filming. Last quarter, the U.K. and Canada each saw more live-action, scripted titles with budgets of at least $10 million actively filming within their borders, per data from industry intelligence platform ProdPro.
And it’s not just areas outside of the U.S. either. New York has proved more resilient than California, seeing about 75 percent of 2022 shooting levels.
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As the nation prepares for its 250th Independence Day celebration, a decades-long California Fourth of July fireworks tradition that has raised millions for local children’s programs is going dark this year after the California Coastal Commission rejected a final effort to keep it alive, citing environmental concerns to protect the bay.
“We’ve raised over the past 14 years $2 million for kids programs here in Long Beach,” event organizer John Morris told Fox News Digital, adding the July 3 event is fully funded by the local community.
“This community pays for everything — everything. City fees, and the city doesn’t give us a break. We pay $20,000 to the city for police and fire, which I’m fine with, because there’s 100,000 people enjoying the fireworks,” said Morris, a Long Beach resident and business owner.
Morris, who owns the Boathouse on the Bay restaurant, had planned a scaled-up fireworks display this year to mark America’s 250th Independence Day.
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Long Beach residents have enjoyed the fireworks organized by John Morris for over a decade. (Scott Varley/MediaNews Group/Torrance Daily Breeze via Getty Images)
In January, Coastal Commission staff rejected the proposal, and last week commissioners unanimously upheld that decision despite an appeal backed by local, state and federal officials.
Regulators warned Morris last year that 2025 would likely be the final year for fireworks at the event, as they continue pushing organizers to switch to drone shows they say are more environmentally friendly.
The decision stands in contrast to other approvals by the commission, including a permit granted to SeaWorld allowing up to 40 nights of fireworks.
“They get 40 nights in Mission Bay. All I’m asking for is 20 minutes — it doesn’t make any sense,” Morris said.
Morris, 78, also pushed back on the environmental concerns cited by the commission, pointing to years of testing around the event.
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Due to the lack of fireworks, Morris has decided to cancel the July 3rd celebration.
“We’ve had 10 years of environmental studies,” Morris said. “We test the water before and after the fireworks and send a robotic camera into the bay to check for debris — there’s never been any. It’s been spotless.
“We’ve also had eight years of bird reports to make sure we’re not harming wildlife. We’ve never had an issue. We’ve never been written up one time. So what is it really about?”
Joshua Smith, a spokesman for the California Coastal Commission, told Fox News Digital that permits are determined on a case-by-case basis, citing environmental concerns to “protect the bay.”
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Organizer John Morris said environmental studies are regularly conducted to measure the impact of the fireworks show on the bay. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Smith said Morris was approved for a permit to hold a drone show in lieu of fireworks. Morris told Fox News Digital such a show would cost about $200,000 — roughly four times more than traditional fireworks.
Smith confirmed that SeaWorld received a permit allowing 40 nights of fireworks. When pressed on the discrepancy, he reiterated that decisions are made individually and declined to provide further details.
Morris said the loss of the fireworks show will be felt across the community, from local businesses to families who have made the event an annual tradition.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — In the wide-open race for California governor, billionaire Tom Steyer is on a spending binge.
The hedge fund manager-turned-liberal activist is using his personal fortune to saturate TV screens and mobile phones with advertising, while his competitors accuse him of trying to use his vast wealth to buy the state’s most powerful job.
Steyer’s ads — in which he promises to bring down household costs or rails against federal immigration raids — appear inescapable at times in heavily Democratic Los Angeles, the state’s largest media market. Data compiled by advertising tracker AdImpact show Steyer has spent or booked over $115 million in ads for broadcast TV, cable and radio — nearly 30 times the amount of his nearest Democratic rival.
If he makes it through the June 2 primary election, Steyer could easily eclipse the 2010 record set by Republican Meg Whitman, who spent $178.5 million in a losing bid for governor, much of it her own money. At the time, it was the costliest campaign for statewide office in the nation’s history.
Even when ad buys from all his major competitors are combined, along with ad purchases by independent committees supporting candidates, Steyer is outspending the field by tens of millions of dollars.
“Billionaire money is flooding our state in an attempt to buy this election,” former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, one of Steyer’s chief rivals, warned her supporters this month.
Mail-in ballots are set to go out to voters next month. Steyer is among a crowd of candidates hoping to seize a spotlight after former Democratic U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell’s dramatic departure from the race following sexual assault allegations that he denies.
But while Steyer has ticked up in polling amid his spending splurge, he has not broken away from the field, leaving some wondering if he’s getting value for his dollars.
“If your first round of ads doesn’t move you dramatically (in the polls), the third, fourth, fifth, six, seventh and eighth rounds won’t either,” said veteran Democratic strategist Bill Carrick, who for years advised the late Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein. “There is something inherently holding Steyer back.”
In recent prior campaigns for governor, at this stage a leading candidate was taking control of the race. This year, voters appear to be shrugging at a contest that lacks a star candidate among seven leading Democrats and two Republicans.
“Somehow the campaign is frozen,” Carrick added.
History shows that money doesn’t always translate into votes.
Billionaire developer Rick Caruso spent over $100 million in 2022 in his bid to become Los Angeles mayor, much of it his own money, but he was handily defeated by Mayor Karen Bass, who spent a fraction of Caruso’s total. Billionaire former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent more than $1 billion of his own money on his 2020 presidential bid before dropping out. And Steyer’s money was unable to lift him into contention in the 2020 presidential contest, when he dropped out early in the year after a poor finish in the South Carolina primary.
Steyer has never held elected office.
In a 2019 interview with The Associated Press, Steyer was asked what he would say to people who think he’s trying to buy the presidency.
“I don’t think that’s possible,” Steyer said at the time, before adding, “I’m never going to apologize for succeeding in business. That’s America, right?”
His campaign did not respond directly when asked about similar criticism facing his run for governor.
“Tom now stands as the only Democrat with the grassroots energy, institutional backing and resources to advance to the general election,” spokesperson Kevin Liao said in a statement.
The governor’s race was recently reordered by two developments: Swalwell, a leading Democrat, abruptly withdrew from the race then resigned from Congress, following sexual assault allegations. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump endorsed conservative commentator Steve Hilton.
Still, there is no clear leader.
Polling in late March and early April by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found a cluster of candidates in close competition: Democrats Steyer and Porter, Republicans Hilton and Chad Bianco, and Swalwell. Other candidates were trailing. The polling was conducted before Swalwell withdrew.
Democrats have feared the party’s large number of candidates could lead to them getting shut out of the general election in November. That’s because California has a primary system in which only the top two vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of party.
Leading Democrats are all claiming to have picked up support since Swalwell’s exit. Steyer nabbed one plum endorsement, when the influential California Teachers Association, which previously backed Swalwell, recommended him.
In his ads, Steyer promises to “abolish” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which has been staging raids across California. In another, he laments the state’s punishing cost of housing, “Everybody needs an affordable place to live,” he says.
Rapper was stabbed 16 times by fellow inmate in May 2025 while 10-year sentence in Megan Thee Stallion shooting case
Tory Lanez has filed a $100 million lawsuit against the California Department of Corrections stemming from a May 2025 incident where the rapper was stabbed in prison.
Lanez — born Daystar Peterson and currently serving a 10-year sentence after being found guilty in the Megan Thee Stallion shooting case — also sued the warden and guards at the California Correctional Institute in Tehachapi, where the rapper was stabbed 16 times in an “unprovoked life-threatening attack” by another inmate, the lawsuit states.
Peterson was hospitalized following the May 2025 incident, suffering a collapsed lung among stab wounds to his back, torso, and head.
According to the Associated Press, the lawsuit criticized the Department of Corrections for housing Peterson with fellow inmate and alleged attacker Santino Casio, who was serving a life sentence for second-degree murder. “The choice to house Casio with Peterson was known or should have been a known danger,” the lawsuit said, adding that Tory Lanez’ “high-profile celebrity status” made him a target.
The lawsuit also said that prison guards were slow to respond to the shanking, and didn’t employ flash grenades or other measures to halt Casio’s attack.; Casio was not charged for stabbing Peterson, the Associated Press notes.
Lanez, who following his hospitalization was transferred to San Luis Obispo County’s California Men’s Colony, also alleges in the lawsuit that he never received his possessions from the California Correctional Institute in Tehachapi, including songbooks filled with lyrics to his unreleased music.
Lanez is serving a 10-year prison sentence for shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the foot during a confrontation in the summer of 2020. He was eventually convicted on several firearms charges, including assault with a firearm, in December 2022. In November 2025, his appeal was denied by a three-judge panel, and the 10-year sentence was upheld.
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