To: Marc Levine (CA-10), Richard Bloom (CA-50), Wendy Carrillo (CA-51), Marie Waldron (CA-75), Ian Calderon (CA-57), and Governor Gavin Newsom
Keep Our Entertainment Jobs in California (AB 1839: SUPPORT)
Dear Assemblymember Calderon,
As a professional musician, I have a vested interest in the state of the motion picture and television industry in California. Once the leading music scoring community of the world, Hollywood is at serious risk of losing this work to other states and nations if California cannot to compete with production incentives.
The motion picture and television industry has long been the lifeblood of California’s economy, supporting more than 190,000 direct jobs and $17 billion in wages. But these numbers are on a rapid decline, and our state is losing thousands of middle-class jobs and significant tax revenue as a direct result of other regions offering more competitive production subsidies.
The hard reality is that Hollywood is at serious risk of losing its claim to the epicenter of the motion picture and TV industry. Over the 15 years, the exodus of production jobs to out-of-state regions has snowballed into a very real threat to middle-class jobs in our state. Along with these lost jobs, California is also sending out precious tax dollars, economic opportunity, and our revered iconic brand to other states and nations.
Some Facts About Runaway Production
• Of the 54 big-budget feature films of 2012 and 2013, only one shot exclusively in California.
• From 2005 to 2013, California’s share of the 1-hour TV series market declined from 64% to 28%, resulting in the loss of an estimated 8,500 jobs.
• According to a 2007 study commissioned by the San Francisco Film Commission, every job lost in the film industry results in a loss of $112,000 in spending to the local economy.
• In the last 15 years, feature film production in Los Angeles has dropped nearly 60%.
If policymakers fail to make California more competitive, our local film and TV production industry will face permanent damage as hundreds of thousands of jobs leave forever to other. It is imperative that the Legislature and Administration take decisive steps to retain an industry that serves as a vital source of jobs, tax revenue and economic opportunity.
Sincerely,
As a professional musician, I have a vested interest in the state of the motion picture and television industry in California. Once the leading music scoring community of the world, Hollywood is at serious risk of losing this work to other states and nations if California cannot to compete with production incentives.
The motion picture and television industry has long been the lifeblood of California’s economy, supporting more than 190,000 direct jobs and $17 billion in wages. But these numbers are on a rapid decline, and our state is losing thousands of middle-class jobs and significant tax revenue as a direct result of other regions offering more competitive production subsidies.
The hard reality is that Hollywood is at serious risk of losing its claim to the epicenter of the motion picture and TV industry. Over the 15 years, the exodus of production jobs to out-of-state regions has snowballed into a very real threat to middle-class jobs in our state. Along with these lost jobs, California is also sending out precious tax dollars, economic opportunity, and our revered iconic brand to other states and nations.
Some Facts About Runaway Production
• Of the 54 big-budget feature films of 2012 and 2013, only one shot exclusively in California.
• From 2005 to 2013, California’s share of the 1-hour TV series market declined from 64% to 28%, resulting in the loss of an estimated 8,500 jobs.
• According to a 2007 study commissioned by the San Francisco Film Commission, every job lost in the film industry results in a loss of $112,000 in spending to the local economy.
• In the last 15 years, feature film production in Los Angeles has dropped nearly 60%.
If policymakers fail to make California more competitive, our local film and TV production industry will face permanent damage as hundreds of thousands of jobs leave forever to other. It is imperative that the Legislature and Administration take decisive steps to retain an industry that serves as a vital source of jobs, tax revenue and economic opportunity.
Sincerely,
Why is this important?
If policymakers fail to make California more competitive, our local film and TV production industry will face permanent damage as hundreds of thousands of jobs leave forever to other. It is imperative that the Legislature and Administration take decisive steps to retain an industry that serves as a vital source of jobs, tax revenue and economic opportunity.