California Tax Credit Applications Hit All-Time High

from: Todd Cunningham, The Wrap

Twenty-eight of 380 projects get initial OK; the qualifiers will be announced on Tuesday

A record 380 applications were filed Monday for California’s $100 million Film and TV Tax credit program, with 28 receiving preliminary approval.

That’s an 18 percent increase from the 322 projects that sought the credits last year, the previous high. The number of projects getting the conditional OK is the same.

Studios, networks and independent TV and film companies began applying for the credits at 9 a.m. Monday at the California Film Commission office in Hollywood, and at 3 p.m. the 28 projects were drawn from a hopper.

The specific projects that have been approved will be announced Tuesday afternoon.

The program has been over-subscribed since its inception in 2009, when the state lawmakers approved the funding to help stem the flow of productions leaving California, many to states and countries offering tax incentives.

Not making the initial cut isn’t the end of the road for the applicants. They are eligible for a waiting list and can take the spots of approved projects that drop out – usually for funding reasons – or have production delays. Last year, a total of 75 projects eventually received credits.

California lawmakers extended the tax incentive program through 2017 last year with the same $100 million annual allocation. Its supporters had sought a five-year extension, arguing that the stability that would have provided would serve as an inducement, particularly to TV producers.

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