California’s new standalone tax incentive for post-production received $10 million after advocates requested $100 million, Mary Alabanza of the California Post Alliance told lawmakers at a state Assembly hearing Thursday.
The $90 million difference emerged during the inaugural hearing of the Assembly Select Committee on Growing and Retaining the Creative Economy, which is examining ways to keep film and television work in California. Alabanza said AB 2319, signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom, marked the first time California had created a standalone incentive for post-production.
“While we did accomplish something historical, we did fall short,” Alabanza said, according to the Assembly hearing video. “Our budget request was of 100 million, and we did receive 10 million.”
Alabanza said the state’s post-production workforce includes about 12,000 professionals, though she said the figure may be undercounted because the industry’s impact has not historically been tracked. She described post-production work as longer and more stable than production work, saying it can last 24 to 48 weeks compared with six to 10 weeks for production.
Assemblymember Nick Schultz, who led the committee discussion on post-production, said California lost more than 1,800 post-production jobs between 2012 and 2025, a 13.2% decline. He characterized the figures as an estimated annual loss of $1.63 billion in economic activity and more than $507 million in wages.
The figures were presented as testimony at the hearing and were not independently established in the available record. The hearing record also cuts off during later testimony. The enacted appropriation, program rules and California Film Commission timeline for accepting applications should be confirmed before publication.
