By Dennis Dreith, RMA President Emeritus
A little over a year ago a small group of postproduction professionals, comprised of composers, musicians, film editors, studio managers and others began meeting informally over brunch at harpist Gayle Levant’s home to discuss the challenges of postproduction work in general and in keeping work here in LA in particular. Those discussions led to the formation of the California Post Alliance (CAPA) whose stated purpose “brings together post-production creatives and professionals to champion policies that strengthen and sustain our industry in the Golden State through economic development, education and investment in emerging technologies.” In just a few short months, CAPA held town hall meetings, established relationships with economists, lobbyists and legislators to develop AB 2319 a stand-alone postproduction tax incentive authored by California Assemblyman Nick Schultz. AB 2319 will provide California tax incentives in general for postproduction activities but more importantly it is the first ever California legislation to specifically incentivize music scoring in the state.
AB 2319, which Assemblymember Nick Schultz introduced; is currently in process in Sacramento. This initiative is designed specifically to attract film and television projects to complete their post-production in California, even when principal photography takes place elsewhere or otherwise did not qualify for the CA production credit. This bill acknowledges the vital economic and cultural impact of postproduction, creates revenue for California’s infrastructure, and secures our role as a global hub of innovation. As of this writing AB 2319 unanimously passed the Arts, Entertainment and Tourism Committee and on Monday April 20, 2026, cleared its second hurdle as it was passed by the Revenue and Taxation Committee.
Tax credits are not a new thing and have proven highly effecting in luring work away from Hollywood. The United Kingdom offers very substantial tax incentives for motion pictures to not only film in the U.K but to score films there as well. This is also the case with an ever-growing list of foreign territories as well as lucrative incentives right here in the US. Currently, all 50 have some form of incentive with Georgia, New York, New Jersey, New Mexico and Louisiana being some of the most aggressive. California has followed suit over the past few years and with the support of the AFM and the other entertainment unions passed the much-celebrated Film & Television Tax Credit Program “4.0” providing $750M in incentives for film and television programs produced in the state. While this is indeed a huge accomplishment, it does not provide a direct stand-alone incentive for postproduction music scoring which is mandated in AB 2319 which will provide a 35% to 50% tax incentive for music scoring that occurs in California. In addition, the “4.0” production rebate bill does not allow a film to qualify for a rebate if it is not produced (filmed) in the state of California. This leaves out a lot of potential films we could be scoring in California. AB 2319 will uniquely provide a rebate incentive for postproduction scoring no matter where in the world the film was shot.
Legislation that supports job retention and job growth in the entertainment industry is crucial to the health of our community. However, most of the production incentive bills are just that, bills that support production (e.g. activities and workers involved in filming) and do not provide a direct benefit for postproduction music scoring. On the other hand, AB 2319 is designed solely to promote postproduction employment, with music scoring being a significant component of that legislation. We strongly support our brother and sister entertainment workers in their efforts to bring work back to California and hope they in turn enthusiastically support our efforts as well. We have waited for years for relief for our segment of the industry, and it is now time to aggressively support legislation that directly supports musicians and other postproduction professionals to generate real income right here at home.
CAPA’s progress and the speed at which the legislation has been developed has been nothing short of miraculous. However, there is still much to be done. We need to get the bill through the State Assembly and then repeat the process in the Senate all over again. With enough effort a bill could be on the Governor’s desk for signature by September. However, none of this can happen without your support.
For more information about CAPA and AB 2319 please visit https://californiapostalliance.org/default.aspx