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SAG‑AFTRA and filmmakers warn runaway production and tax and grant changes threaten California jobs
Summary
SAG‑AFTRA and documentary filmmakers told a legislative panel that productions are moving to other states and countries, that federal policy and tax-code gaps worsen the problem, and that California should preserve and expand incentives and worker protections to keep production and crews in state.
Union and industry witnesses said federal policy uncertainty and international incentives have already driven production and related jobs out of California, threatening a wide ecosystem of workers beyond actors and directors.
Julie Fisher, national secretary-treasurer of SAG‑AFTRA, told the joint committees that other countries have created government-backed incentives that attracted U.S. film and television production overseas. Fisher urged state and federal action, including a federal production labor tax credit to complement state incentives and the Performing Artists Tax Parity Act (PAPPA), which updates a qualified performing-artist tax deduction.
Documentary producers described immediate impacts on projects and freelancers. Jacob Kornbluth, a documentary filmmaker, said grants that would have funded postproduction work were canceled; he told lawmakers he had lost roughly $800,000 in project funding for the year and that editors, composers and technicians he planned to hire were now unavailable.
SAG‑AFTRA and other witnesses also described the effect on the broader supply chain: musicians who score films, local caterers, dry cleaners and transportation services depend on production work. “Some of my husband’s friends moved to Atlanta because there just wasn't any work,” Fisher said.
State tools and requests: witnesses supported strengthening California’s film and production tax incentives and urged state protections for performing artists (advocates noted a proposed Performing Arts Equitable Payroll Fund had been cut in a recent budget revision). Panelists recommended a mix of federal and state policy changes: production tax parity, targeted payroll supports for small nonprofit theaters and protections against IP misuse from synthetic voice and likeness technologies.
Why it matters: California’s creative cluster concentrates suppliers, talent and support services; economists at the hearing said that concentration multiplies the impact of public investment and that losing cluster capacity risks long-term economic decline in film, music and related sectors.
Next steps: committee members pledged to coordinate with industry and labor on incentives and workforce programs and to consider state-level measures to retain production and protect creative workers as federal action proceeds.
