Cate Blanchett’s Lucille Ball untitled biopic and Sylvester Stallone’s “Little America” are among a dozen projects selected by the California Film Commission for a total of $ 40 million in tax credits.
The list, released Monday, includes “Moonshadow,” the story of a transgender teenager sent to the conversion camp, which also has a creative team, cast and crew; “Ashes to Ocean”, which revolves around an Asian family; “The Test”, which focuses on immigration and citizenship; New Regency’s thriller “Black Hole,” based on a graphic novel; and “Half Baked 2”. Universal’s “Live Feed” received the highest award with $ 10 million.
“As a project with many members of the creative team, the cast and crew of trans and other non-gender-confirming genres, it was essential that the production of ‘Moonshadow’ be based on a progressive state,” said executive producer Jude Harris. “The California tax credit program allows us to create jobs and production expenses here at home while working in a supportive environment.”
Amazon Studios has joined the Lucille Ball project, which is based on the script by Aaron Sorkin, since 2017. “Little America,” a sci-fi thriller with executive production by Michael Bay, was released earlier this year in the Berlin Film Festival.
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The 12 projects are expected to generate nearly $ 225 million in qualified expenses, defined as below-line wages for California workers and payments to providers in the state. The assignments were originally announced in April, but the approvals were delayed due to COVID-19 and the resulting suspension in production activity.
Earlier this month, California blessed film and television production to resume, subject to approval by county public health authorities. On June 11, Los Angeles County issued broad regulations for a phased restart of film and television production.
The state’s production tax credit program requires recipients to begin production within 180 days. The program tripled in 2014 to $ 330 million annually to effectively compete with New York and Georgia, then expanded to 2025 with a credit of up to 25% of qualified expenses spent in California. The state abandoned the lottery approach several years ago and selects projects based on a job creation formula.
Feature films covered by the California show have included “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”, “Captain Marvel”, “Bumblebee”, “Space Jam 2” and “Sherlock Holmes 3”. A total of 16 television series have moved to California under the show, including Showtime’s “Penny Dreadful: City of Angels,” “Good Girls,” “You,” “Sneaky Pete,” “Legion,” “Ballers,” and Veep. “
The commission said Monday that eight of the 12 projects will be carried out within the Los Angeles 30-mile study area, while the other four (“Dead Dads Club”, “Dog”, “Little America” and “Pursuit”) plan 65 days of filming in Kern, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties. The commission also said that California will double for Iran for “The Test”, Hong Kong for “Little America” and Florida for “Lady of the House” and noted that “Black Hole” was originally planned to take place in the Pacific Northwest, it has been rewritten to take place in Los Angeles.
The five-year extension of the program, called the California Film and Television Tax Credit Program 3.0, launches July 1 with several new provisions, including a pilot skills training program to help people in underserved communities along with provisions that require projects to have a written policy. to address illegal harassment and improved reporting on above and below the line cast and crew employment diversity data.
“The 2.0 program has accomplished precisely what it was designed to do, from creating high-paying jobs to encouraging increased production outside the area,” said California Film Commission Executive Director Colleen Bell. “As the industry begins to recover from COVID-19, the launch of Program 3.0 will help continue to ensure that California provides unmatched value.”
Bell said that over its five-year span, Program 2.0 has incentivized a total of 243 film and television projects that have generated an estimated total spending of $ 11 billion in California, including $ 4 billion in skilled worker wages for below the line and $ 3.7 billion in payments to state providers.
