On the same day that David Zaslav‘s platinum parachute for the Paramount merger was rejected in a non-binding vote by Warner Bros Discovery shareholders, California handed out some cash that could actually be of real help to the home of Hollywood.
That’s $193 million to be very specific – which is less than a third of what WBD CEO Zas still stands to pocket if David Ellison’s takeover of the iconic studio actually goes through. That’s $193 million spread among 38 projects from the latest round of the Golden State’s film and TV tax credits program.
Or, as Bart Simpson would say: “¡Ay, caramba!”
To that, the sequel to 2007’s The Simpsons Movie is among the more than three dozen flicks, along with the Will Ferrell-produced Self-Help and the Laverne Cox-starring Black Is Blue, allocated tax incentives Thursday. Set to be released on July 23 next year, 20th Century Studios’ Simpsons Movie 2 got $21.86 million from the California Film Commission administered program.
As you can see in the chart below of the 38 films that were conditionally allocated credits, as well as it did, the Simpsons sequel didn’t get the biggest award this round. In fact, with an Untitled DreamWorks Animation Feature Film getting $24.7 million and an Untitled Paramount Crime Thriller (pick up a trend here?) topping the list with $25.8 million, Simpsons 2 was in third place.
Leaning into the big showing by animation, Disney Television Animation’s Phineas and Ferb film snagged $3.45 million in this big screen round. The genre only recently became eligible for the Golden State credits since Gov. Gavin Newsom‘s vast expansion of the program to $750 million annually last year.
There’s a ‘toon payoff too.
The animated films are estimated to hire 484 cast and crew members overall. On the hard bottom line, Simpsons 2 and the other animated features are projected to deliver $144 million in qualified expenditures throughout the state. In total, the 38 indie and studio projects will create over $800 million injection into California’s economy, the CFC say.
Or, in a town and state that has been hurt hard the past few years by a steep drop in production with jobs, shows and films moving elsewhere, as Gloria Sanchez Productions co-founder Ferrell said today: “We’re seeing real momentum again in California, and it’s incredibly meaningful to be part of bringing production home and working with the crews who make this industry so special.”
“California has always been a place where bold, authentic stories come to life, and being able to make this film here means we get to collaborate with some of the most talented crews and artists in the world while investing back into the creative community that makes this industry possible,” Black Is Blue‘s Cox added.
In that vein, the latest round for TV applicants just closed last week with approvals likely to be announced around May 18. For features, the next application period, with all submissions being online only, starts on May 11. As for the program itself (called Program 4.0 by the CFC), tax incentives for the industry are almost certainly here to stay in California no matter who the next governor is. The questions going forward have to be what stage and price-tag will they go to next and will there be a federal bipartisan supported program?
That’s a whole other type of application.
