California’s Film & TV Incentives Program Generated $21.9B in Economic Output, Report Says; 110,000 Jobs & $7.7B In Wages Over 5 Years

deadline.com:

California’s Film & Television Tax Credit 2.0 Program generated nearly $21.9 billion in economic output in the state over five years at a projected cost to taxpayers of little more than $1.5 billion, according to a new study commissioned by the Motion Picture Association, using data from the California Film Commission.The study (read it here), which makes a compelling case that tax incentives helped preserve California’s signature industry from runaway production, was conducted by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, a private, nonprofit organization established in 1981 by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.The $330 million-a-year 2.0 program began in July 2015 and was sunsetted for the 3.0 program in June 2020, which was enhanced with an additional $90 million per year for the current and next fiscal years.

According to the study, a total of 169 productions were allocated tax credits under the program as of February 26, 2020, which “supported the equivalent of more than 110,000 jobs in the state paying $7.7 billion in labor income, with California state and local governments estimated to have earned $961.5 million in tax revenues as a result of this activity.”“One way to interpret the value of the tax credit is to measure the economic impacts resulting from one dollar of tax credit allocated,” the study’s cost-benefit analysis says, “For every tax credit dollar approved under California’s Film and Tax Credit program, at least $24.40 in output, $16.14 in gross domestic product, $8.60 in wages, and $1.07 in initial state and local tax revenue will result from production in the state of California.”In other words, the program pays for itself while creating thousands of jobs and billions in