Conditionally approved to share $65 million of the $330 million in tax credits that will be allocated over the 2016/17 fiscal year starting July 1 are one series relocating from Texas, “American Crime”; four shows already in the program from the previous year (“Code Black,” “Crazy Ex Girlfriend,” “Rosewood” and “Veep”); and six new series – “Citizen,” “Famous in Love,” “Pitch,” “Pure Genius,” “Rebel” and “This Is Us.”
The 11 shows are expected to generate $464 million in California spending, with $171 million of that going to wages for below-the-line (i.e. not actors, directors, producers and the like) workers in the state.
“So far, early indicators are that it’s working exactly as it was designed to increase and bring production here,” CFC executive director Amy Lemisch said about the 2.0 tax incentives program.
Last year the program replaced the $100 million-per-annum, lottery-based system with a larger one that opened eligibility to a much wider range of productions, including one-hour broadcast network, pay cable and subscription service like Amazon and Netflix series and pilots.