Gov. Gavin Newsom is unveiling another multimillion-dollar boost for Hollywood, this time focused on keeping film and television editors, visual effects professionals and other behind-the-scenes talent working in California.
Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2319 on Friday at the Television Academy in North Hollywood. The law creates what supporters call the nation’s first California tax credit dedicated specifically to post-production.
The new incentive will cover 35% to 50% of eligible post-production spending in California, including editing, sound, music, visual effects and final finishing work.
The program also breaks from California’s existing film and television incentive by allowing projects to qualify even if they are not filmed in the state.
Under the current program, post-production expenses qualify when at least 75% of a project’s filming or total production budget is spent in California. The new credit instead aims to bring post-production jobs to the state while allowing principal photography to take place elsewhere.
“This is a big victory in our fight to save California’s entertainment industry, and we’re just getting started,” said Assemblyman Nick Schultz, a Burbank Democrat who introduced the bill.
“This program will literally save jobs here in Los Angeles and across the state,” Schultz said. “When California competes, we all win.”
Even so, the initiative begins at a far smaller scale than its backers had hoped.
Schultz originally proposed allocating $100 million to the post-production credit, a figure supported by the Motion Picture Editors Guild. Lawmakers ultimately approved $10 million—just 10% of the initial request.
The new incentive arrives as California faces growing pressure from states and countries offering competing tax breaks to attract post-production work.
CVL Economics data cited by the Los Angeles Times shows California’s share of U.S. post-production employment falling from 53% to 42% over the last 13 years. The consulting firm, which is affiliated with the California Post Alliance, estimated that the state had roughly 12,000 post-production jobs last year.
That decline has been especially painful for workers navigating Hollywood’s broader employment slump.
Ben Urquhart, a 51-year-old Culver City resident, told the Times that he spent 18 years as a post-production executive at NBCUniversal before losing his job. Two and a half years after the layoff, he said he remains unemployed.
“It’s grim and it’s hard. There are jobs, but we have a large amount of extremely qualified people competing for every level of job,” Urquhart said.
He contrasted today’s market with his experience as a production assistant in the 1990s, when landing another job could take only a few weeks.
California recently expanded its Film and Television Tax Credit Program from $330 million to $750 million per year. The higher funding level is authorized through June 30, 2030.
Urquhart said the additional post-production incentive could help California catch up with jurisdictions that already offer similar credits and “level the playing field.”
The legislation is part of Sacramento’s larger push to keep Hollywood production—and the jobs tied to it—rooted in California.
“California is the nation’s entertainment capital,” Newsom said in a statement. “It is the home of storytellers, dreamers, artists, entrepreneurs, and creators who define culture for the rest of the world.”
Newsom’s office said 170 projects announced since the broader incentive expansion are projected to produce more than $6.6 billion in economic activity and nearly 35,000 cast and crew jobs across the state.
Newsom also signed Senate Bill 186, which makes changes to the existing incentive program, including enhanced refundability and relief for certain independent productions from a temporary limitation on tax credits beginning in 2027.
The push to lure entertainment jobs is also reaching Washington. President Donald Trump has publicly supported the idea of a federal film tax credit, while Reps. Laura Friedman, D-Calif., and Brian Jack, R-Ga., are leading a bipartisan effort to draft one, according to the Times.
Newsom capped off Friday’s Hollywood push with a visit to the Burbank set of HBO Max’s “The Pitt,” as California tries to keep more of Hollywood’s work in the Golden State.
