The below-the-line community joined with Ron Perlman, Carl Weathers and Daniel Stern in Sacramento at the state capitol Wednesday in support of a sweetened incentive program for movies and TV shot in California.
W/ actor Ron Perlman at rally to pass #ab1839, which increases CA’s film/TV production tax credit to keep jobs in CA. pic.twitter.com/EbodzhTYHB
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) August 20, 2014
The two-hour event attracted more than 300 attendees to demonstrate that Assembly Bill 1839 has strong backing outside the industry’s Hollywood core. The rally included appearances by the crew of “Pretty Little Liars” and displays of hair, makeup and green screen technology to give a behind-the-scenes look at the industry.
@MPEG700 crew members from Pretty Little Liars on the steps of the Capitol pic.twitter.com/FFEGXAYOob
— MPEG (Editors Guild) (@MPEG700) August 20, 2014
The actors and the crew were also introduced on the Assembly and Senate floors.
The legislation is heading to the Senate floor after clearing the Appropriations Committee last week. The bill will quadruple the size of the tax credit program, to $400 million per year from the current $100 million annual allocation.
Most of the $100 million allocation goes to continuing TV series, such as “Pretty Little Liars,” which is due to receive $8.4 million in the current fiscal year.
“I think the rally was very successful and it showed that there’s a lot of momentum now for AB 1839,” said Steve Dayan, chairman of the California Film Commission and secretary-treasurer of Local 399 of the Intl. Brotherhood of Teamsters. “We were determined to show that this is a lot more than just a Southern California issue.”
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The rally is the fourth such event held by supporters of AB 1839 since its introduction in February, which coincided with a Burbank rally that drew over 1,000 attendees. A March event attracted more than 600 at a prop house in Sunland and a mid-June rally in San Francisco drew about 500.
Wednesday’s event drew vendors, film commissioners and reps from SAG-AFTRA, IATSE, the Directors Guild of America, the Teamsters, the IBEW and the American Federation of Musicians.
Gov. Jerry Brown has not indicated whether he will support the legislation, which is aimed at keeping production in California by offering incentives that are comparable to those available in New York, Georgia and Louisiana.
“I believe that the Senate will approve the bill so the big question is what the governor will do,” Dayan added.
