{"id":302121,"date":"2026-05-06T05:29:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T05:29:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/302121\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T05:29:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T05:29:07","slug":"cnn-california-governor-debate-makes-little-mention-of-hollywood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/302121\/","title":{"rendered":"CNN California Governor Debate Makes Little Mention of Hollywood"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tIf you were watched CNN Tuesday night for guidance on how California<\/a>\u2019s new governor would solve Hollywood<\/a>\u2019s production crisis, you may as well have changed the channel: The Lakers had more answers than the candidates on the stage. And they got beat by 18.<\/p>\n

The third and final gubernatorial debate ahead of the June 2 primary saw the issue \u2014 which affects the biggest industry in the state\u2019s most populous city \u2014 draw precious little airtime. Moderators asked only two of the seven candidates what they would do about the bleeding of production jobs, and neither gave an especially substantive answer.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s a competition we can and must win,\u201d Katie Porter said generally, without addressing whether she would push for an uncapping of the current $750 million annual production tax credit, as she has yet to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis election is an existential election for Hollywood. So yes, we do need an unlimited, uncapped tax credit. It needs to be above and below the line,\u201d said Antonio Villaraigosa, which he has previously said, and should not just go to \u201ccamera operators and makeup people\u201d \u2014 but also oddly noted in the same answer that \u201cthe jobs behind the camera are more important than the people in front,\u201d Also, he\u2019s polling at<\/a> 2%.<\/p>\n

Left out of the question were Republican Steve Hilton, a frontrunner who told THR last week<\/a> he would consider a dramatic 60% tax credit; Xavier Becerra, a frontrunner whose views Hollywood professionals are eager to know; and Tom Steyer, polling closely behind the two men <\/a>and who has also said he would take off the cap but not yet clarified whether it would be limited to below-the-line jobs. Unions tend to favor such an earmark, though proponents of above-the-line inclusions say it would incentivize producers to shoot in the state to begin with.<\/p>\n

Instead, amid ostensible discussions about housing and health care, the candidates sniped and bickered \u2014 over Porter\u2019s temperament, over whether they knew immigration law, over whether Republican Chad Bianco had ever used the word \u201cswindled\u201d in his life ( he said no, then yes). How to stem a crisis that has cost some 50,000 jobs despite up to $750 million in annual production tax incentives? Less explored.<\/p>\n

The debate happened four weeks before the primary election that will determine which two of the pool of seven will advance to the general election. A split of one Republican and one Democrat would almost surely hand the governorship to the Democrat. The advancement of Hilton and Bianco, on the other hand, would ensure California would have its first Republican governor since Arnold Schwarzenegger 16 years ago.<\/p>\n

More time was spent on which celebrity candidates would choose to play them in a biopic.<\/a> Antonio Banderas got two votes (Becerra and Villaraigosa); Clint Eastwood was namechecked (Bianco, Riverside County sheriff); Gregory Peck got an OG shout-out (Steyer, we\u2019re assuming for\u00a0To Kill a Mockingbird not\u00a0The Million Pound Note);\u00a0Tina Fey became unwittingly embroiled (Katie Porter; she can see Catalina from her house?); and Jason Statham was the obvious choice for the driven clean-headed Hilton. San Jose mayor Matt Mahan had perhaps the most surprising answer when, after a pause, he replied \u201cRussell Crowe in the\u00a0Gladiator, how\u2019s that?\u201d We were, to say the least, not entertained.<\/p>\n