Kristin Marguerite Doidge
For more than a century, California has been at the heart of the global film and television industry, supporting hundreds of thousands of creative production and post-production professionals and helping to promote a vast network of local businesses, encourage tourism, and support the ongoing economic growth of local communities.
But in recent years, more competition has attracted producers to conduct projects in other states and countries, putting California’s entertainment workforce at risk. The contraction of projects was green during the pandemic, followed by a double labor strike and recently devastating wildfires, which only made many people working at all levels in the industry worse.
That’s why the Guild joined the Alliance of Entertainment Alliances (EUC)’s “Keep California Rolling” program to help lawmakers understand the importance of passing Bill 1138 in the California Senate Bill 630 Bill 1138, which has proposed expanding the state’s current TV taxation program to expand the state’s tax taxation program to expand the tax tax and movies.
Last Sunday, 1,500 film and television workers joined forces to support the “stay in Los Angeles” grassroots campaign in Sun Valley to encourage lawmakers to promote film and television production in Southern California.
The rally came after more than 90 people from various IATSE guilds went to Sacramento for a March hearing, each with 30 seconds to talk to the legislator panel. On the second day of the visit, the members were divided into smaller groups and went to various legislators’ offices to meet them individually.
“I’m a picture editor, I’m a mother of two,” Shannon Baker Davis, a 700-local board member in Los Angeles, told lawmakers when it’s the microphone’s turn to speak. “And it’s hard to work in a dark room for a long time, it’s hard not to work. You can’t support a family. You can’t keep health insurance.”
The coalition, which consists of 165,000 union members, advocates for increased tax incentives to maintain the state’s production and prevent further unemployment, as many skilled workers have stopped working due to slowing production. Alenis Balderrama, deputy director of the West, part of the Western Editorial Society and the Alliance, traveled to Sacramento with the organization and provided the expertise to lobby efforts to guild members.
Davis hopes that a specific post-production section could be added, adding: “Women and people of color are encouraged to enter post-production, and when work is scarce, we are the first to leave, so we desperately need this work to stay in California, and we desperately need to include post-production tax credits into production credit.”
For Bobbi Banks, Los Angeles-based Supervisor Editor and Supervisor Dialogue/ADR Editor also spoke with the group to talk to lawmakers, an emergency that requires immediate action. She said the recent trip was one of many plans planned in June and votes on these measures.
“I’ve only worked for three months in the last 18 months,” Banks said. “The challenge is also you don’t know what will happen. Some of the works will start shooting now, but there are still five to six months waiting for post-production staff to return to work.”
The current cap on the movie and TV tax credit program in California is $330 million, Banks notes that that’s less than half what New York offers, and that credit hasn’t increased in a decade. Due to lack of work, many experienced workers have lost their health insurance, some are retirement early or moving to other states and have more opportunities for production and post-production.
Many in the industry hope to not only be able to make more funding and improvements to existing plans, but also include new components. Among them will be the independent post-production tax credit, designed to inspire companies to complete post-production work in California, even if the shooting takes place elsewhere.
Nearly 450 people have signed grassroots changes. The ORG petition has been sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom, Mayor Karen Bass and other legislators to help retain California’s post-production work – and it’s important to take advantage of the people around us in Hollywood that started throughout the industry.
“There are a lot of work in California without post-production influence,” Banks added. “People often don’t know what post-production requires – it’s not just a picture editor, but an assistant editor, post-production coordinator, post-supervisor, sound designer, sound editor, Foley Artists, Music Editors, ADR editor. It’s a colorist, visual effects editor, VFX supervisor, and more.”
Others hope to emphasize that the scriptless show is added to the bill, something experienced executive producer Lamont Pete is passionate about. Filmla data shows that Los Angeles had nearly 46% shooting day shooting day last year, compared with 2023.
“We’re talking about the ecosystem of work, from camera operators to catering providers, editors to electricians,” Pete said. “These aren’t just people who make movies; they’re Californians putting food on the table. The reality is simple: if we don’t pass these tax incentives, the production will leave. During the period. They’re going to Georgia, New Mexico, or anywhere else to offer a more adorable deal. When that happens, there’s a million entertainment that Hollywood will certainly encounter, and it’s a lot of entertainment here… It’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of entertainment, it’s a lot of
“The entertainment industry has played a crucial role in California’s history and we have supported California and New York’s former ethnic measures to preserve as much work as possible for all members across the country,” added Scott George, the national executive director. “For us, the voices that raise this question for our members are absolutely crucial to us.”
What members can do:
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