'Runaway production' law: Keep TV/film projects in California

HOLLYWOOD (KABC) -- Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill Thursday morning designed to curb "runaway production" of TV and film projects in California. Brown signed Assembly Bill 1839 into law at a ceremony attended by lawmakers, Hollywood executives and workers at the TCL Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard.

"We've all heard the term 'runaway production,' but let's be clear: Production and production jobs aren't running away from California, they're being lured away by financial incentives from other states," said L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti. "But that stops today."

The legislation is intended to bring jobs back to California by offering financial incentives. AB 1839 allocates $330 million every year for the next five years in tax credits, money intended to make the state more competitive. The bill offers incentives for shows that relocate to California, and it requires that a majority of production and shooting occurs in the state. It applies to small and big productions. Hollywood executives say that is a big deal.

"It smartly targets the opportunities of production, including large-budget feature films that offer a lot of employment," said Steve Papazian, Warner Brothers Studieos. "Really, plain and simple, it is a jobs bill."

"Yes it is taxpayers' money, but it's taxpayers' money going to build jobs for the future," said Brown.

Officials say this will go to help the middle-class worker -- "below-the-line" workers, as they're called -- who do production work. According to a Milken Institute study, between 2004 and 2012, the state lost more than 16,000 production jobs -- a drop of more than 10 percent.

"People often focus about this bill's effect on the industry, but this legislation has always been about preserving good jobs for working families, which other states and other countries have been trying to steal away from us," said Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles). "You cannot assign a value on having a healthy middle class, anchoring our communities and all of the intangibles that that provides."

Prop maker Armando Gonzalez says he's had to work out of state for 10 years.

"We have to do this just to survive, keep our homes and health care," said Gonzalez. "Runaway productions have affected my life tremendously."

Now the bill has been signed into law, the tax incentives go into effect immediately.