Netflix Wins Big Again, Scoring $60 Million in California Tax Credits

variety.com:

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterThe California Film Commission announced the latest round of tax credits for film productions on Monday, and once again Netflix emerged as the big winner.The streaming giant was awarded $60.3 million in state credits, far outpacing Disney ($27.2 million), Warner Bros. ($16.2 million) and Amazon ($16 million).

Netflix also led the way in the last round of credits in August 2021, taking $43.3 million.This time, Netflix was granted credits for four projects: “Atlas,” “Beverly Hills Cop 4,” “Family Leave” and “Unfrosted.”The latter project stars Jerry Seinfeld in an origin story about the Pop Tart, and was awarded $14.2 million in credits.“We are so happy to get the California tax credit which enables us to make our whole movie there,” said Seinfeld, who is also writing, directing and producing the film for Netflix. “Having made all of the ‘Seinfeld’ series in L.A., I very much wanted to come back and shoot there again.

On behalf of everyone working on the movie, we really appreciate the great welcome.” In all, the commission awarded a record-setting $149.2 million in credits for 30 films.

The credits allow the companies to offset their state tax liability, and are used as a tool to keep production from fleeing to other states, which also offer tax incentives.California awards $330 million in credits per year, though that figure was increased by $90 million for each of two years due to the state’s pandemic-related budget surplus — with that increase earmarked for TV shows.