Thanks to YOU, more than 450,000 letters have been sent to legislators over the past two weeks, raising our concerns about SB 122 and how its limitations would undermine our 4.0 Film & Television Jobs Program and slow the momentum from last year’s win.
With very little time to find solutions, your swift action has helped make clear to the Legislature the problems with SB 122 and its negative impact on our members’ jobs and livelihoods, their families, small businesses, and our state economy.
Since our last update, our Entertainment Union Coalition, the MPA, independent producers, industry stakeholders, and champions in the State Legislature — Assemblymember Zbur and Senator Allen — have been working around the clock to negotiate changes to SB 122 that will restore the effectiveness of our 4.0 program and preserve the important gains we fought for last year to make California more competitive.
Without action by our state elected officials, both large studio productions and small independents will be harmed by a double cap on an already capped and allocated Film & TV Jobs Program. In a highly mobile — and highly sought-after — industry, changing the rules after the fact creates real questions about the viability and stability of production in California.
Time is running out. This is our last chance to secure a meaningful solution that:
- Exempts independent film productions from limits that would impede their funding;
- Extends timelines for studio projects that have already created jobs, keeping the promises made;
- Elevates refundability and shortens timelines to ensure 4.0 credits do not lose value over time; and
- Requires employers to be active participants in the program to access these expanded timelines.
The EUC, MPA, and independent producers believe these amendments will restore the stability and viability of the Film & Television Jobs Program; send a clear message to producers that they can rely on California’s program to keep its promises and demonstrate that California is serious about protecting good, middle-class union jobs and the small business infrastructure that supports production in our state.
As a reminder, the first year of the 4.0 program alone has been reported to generate $6.6 billion in economic activity for the state and create almost 35,000 cast and crew jobs across California. We cannot let elected leaders undo what they supported — and what we fought so hard for.
We are entering the most critical week in the fight to protect our program, and we will need all hands-on deck to get this across the finish line this year. Stay tuned for important updates early next week.
We will be calling on you again with targeted actions to make sure our members’ voices are heard, and we are successful in our fight to protect our industry and the gains made in our 4.0 jobs program.
