Statement from American Federation of Musicians Local 47 in Support of the Post Production Tax Credit Bill AB 2319

(August 11, 2026) — American Federation of Musicians Local 47 is pleased to announce our support for the passage of AB 2319, the Post Production Tax Credit bill authored by Assembly Member Nick Schultz. Local 47 represents the thousands of world-class musicians who prepare and perform the music scores for theatrical, television and streaming releases. Our diverse community of recording musicians depend upon this work for livable wages, health care and retirement benefits required to build lives, raise families and invest in the musical instruments that they need in order to bring great music and great performance to your favorite films and shows.

AB 2319 is designed to bring post production jobs to our region at a time when music scoring has been lured to other states and countries by multiple types of tax credits. Our region boasts the infrastructure that is necessary for the scoring process; the large scoring stages necessary for creating scores like “Oppenheimer”, “Sinners”, “Toy Story 5” and “Behemoth”, but this critical infrastructure is threatened when scores for major features and shows from our California-based studios are drawn by tax credits to London, Vienna, Prague etc.

Our support for AB 2319 includes a firm commitment to improving the bill in the future. We need to ensure that no California tax dollars support projects that replace human art with Generative AI film scores. And we need to ensure transparency in the program; we need to ensure that every job produced by our tax dollars is a quality job, investing fully in the economic as well as musical life of our region.

Local 47 is committed to helping AB 2319 address critical threats to the music scoring industry that provides rich benefits to our region and state. The world’s top musicians are attracted to film and TV scoring, and their participation in our communities goes beyond the scoring stage. Our musicians perform in clubs, on stages and in theater and opera pits. Our tourism industry benefits profoundly from having a pool of brilliantly talented musicians sharing their art in an unlimited universe of venues throughout California. And when musicians are launching careers, they almost invariably are teaching our children, sharing the love and craft of music with the next generation of Californians.

We support AB 2319 because it is past time for California to compete for these critical music

scoring jobs.

About AFM 47

The American Federation of Musicians Local 47, formed in 1897, serves to promote and protect the concerns of professional Los, Angeles-area musicians across the music industry, from studio musicians on major and indie labels to those who work on major motion pictures and television. Our members, including members of premiere orchestras and symphonies including the LA Philharmonic, LA Opera, Pasadena Symphony, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and more, regularly tour throughout the world.  For more information about the AFM 47 and its initiatives, visit afm47.org/press.

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