The California Film Commission announced in a press release last month that it has selected 31 productions to receive this year's California Film and Television Tax Credit. Among the lucky winners are feature films Purge 2 and The Wash, and popular television series Switched At Birth, Entourage, Pretty Little Liars, Bunheads, and Rizzoli & Isles.
Among the 380 applications submitted by producers, the Film Commission approved 14 features, 14 basic cable TV series and three movies of the week.
"The record number of applications this year serves as affirmation that the production industry wants to stay at home in California," stated executive director Amy Lemisch. "But tax credits now drive much of the decision making process, and sadly many projects that weren't selected to receive California credits will be shot elsewhere."
Other 2013 selections include features Bordering on Love, The Dating Game Killer, Havenhurst, The Meddler, Mission Blacklist, Shangri-La Suite and Sweetwater. TV series winners include Hit the Floor, Lost Angels and King & Maxwell. And among the TV movies selections are Babycakes, Cloudy with a Chance of Love and Roll with It.
Past recipients of the California Film and Television Tax Credit include Oscar Best Picture winner Argo, Gangster Squad, The Call, and TV series Body of Proof.
Since California can only allot $100 million in credits each year, less than 10% of the applications submitted can receive the credit.
The Film Commission estimated that the 31 projects approved will spend at least $771 million in California and will employ approximately 2,980 cast members, 3,730 crew members and 80,680 extras/stand-ins.
The four-year-old film tax credit program has brought in $4.67 billion in direct spending within the state, including $1.59 billion in wages paid to "below-the-line" crew members.
The selection results - as always - can change. Last year, 28 projects were announced initially but 75 projects ultimately were cleared for the 2012 tax credit allocation.
Below is the breakdown of projects approved for this year's film and television tax credit:
Feature Films: 14 projects (2 studio / 12 independent)
TV Series: 12 projects
Relocating TV Series: 2 projects
Movie-of-the-Week (MOW): 3 projects (1 studio / 2 independent)
Mini-Series: 0
The California Film Commission
The California Film Commission is a Reel-Scout client. The film office's main mission is to foster motion picture, television and commercial production in the state. It supports productions of all sizes and budgets, especially those that stimulate and preserve production spending, jobs and tax revenues in California.
The Film Commission has an extensive digital location library (powered by Reel-Scout), offers location assistance and many other production-related resources.
Browse California's film locations.
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PHOTO CREDIT: Banner image from Switched At Birth via Google.