{"id":1596,"date":"2025-10-14T14:05:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T14:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/1596\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T14:05:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T14:05:19","slug":"enhanced-new-york-film-tv-production-incentives-passed-in-state-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/1596\/","title":{"rendered":"Enhanced New York Film & TV Production Incentives Passed In State Budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe delayed New York State budget<\/a> has been signed and sealed by Gov. Kathy Hochul with expanded incentives for film and television production. The news comes at the close of a frenetic week following Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s bombshell proposal Sunday for tariffs<\/a> on content produced outside the U.S.<\/p>\n

\n\tCalifornia is working on a major expansion of its incentives<\/a>. A plan unveiled by Trump\u2019s Special Ambassador to Hollywood, Jon Voight<\/a>, includes new federal tax credits for U.S. productions<\/a> in addition to any state programs. But that\u2019s being considered alongside a 120% import tax, which has panicked the film industry in the U.S. and globally. The administration has said no final decisions have been made and it\u2019s unclear where this is headed.<\/p>\n

\n\tMeanwhile, the sweetened New York package<\/a> has been bumping around since last year. Gov. Hochul\u2019s proposed budget was signed off on by the Assembly and the State Senate, respectively, on Wednesday and Thursday. The incentives, running through 2036, survived intact with a few tweaks and the addition of music scoring costs, which are eligible for an additional 10% incentive as long as five musicians are hired to perform work in New York State.<\/p>\n

\n\tRELATED: Trump Celebrity Supporters: Famous Folks In Favor Of The 47th President<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tThe state offers a base 30% incentive with regional step ups. Its $700 million annual allocation was raised by $100 million with the fresh funds earmarked specifically for indie projects, defined as a producer not 51% or more owned by a company that is publicly traded in the U.S. \u2014 i.e. Hollywood studios.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe new funding is fixed and set aside as follows: $20 million for projects with budgets less than $10 million, and $80 million for projects with budgets more than $10 million. Once the $100 million is allocated, no additional projects can be accepted in the current year.\u00a0An independent production company cannot submit more than two applications per year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tSummary of other key provisions with latest changes:<\/p>\n

\n\tProduction Plus Program: This will provide additional tax credits for larger productions.\u00a0A production company and its affiliates that have submitted two or more initial applications with combined total qualified NY production costs of $100 million or more can apply to the program and subsequent productions by the same company and its affiliates will be eligible for a\u00a010% increase in their incentive amount \u2013 so equal, for example, to a 40% incentive in NYC \u2013 until the end of 2028.\u00a0An episodic series will be eligible for the uplift until the show is canceled.<\/p>\n

\n\tAbove-the-Line Labor: Previously,\u00a0ATL costs were capped at $500k per person and limited to 40% of all other qualified below-the-line and vendor costs.\u00a0Under the new law, the\u00a0$500k cap has been removed. The overall cap of 40% of BTL and vendor costs remains in effect.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tPost-Only Credit: Prior requirements for the post-only credit required that 75% of the post production budget (not including VFX\/Animation) must be undertaken in NY to qualify.\u00a0Under the new program changes, a production can earn a post-only credit if\u00a075% of post or $1 million of such costs are spent in NYS.<\/p>\n

\n\tVFX\/Animation-only Credit:\u00a0Eligibility requirements dropped from 20% of the VFX\/Animation budget or a spend of $3 million in NY to\u00a010% of the budget or $500k spent in NY.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAccelerated Recovery of Credit: For applications filed after January 1,\u00a02025,\u00a0the production can claim its credit in the allocation year.\u00a0The requirement that stipulates credits of more than $5 million must be paid over three years, beginning with the allocation year, has been removed. The idea is to significantly reduce delays in credit allocation, a complaint producers have had about filming in New York, allowing companies to claim the full credit in the first year, benefiting both major productions and independent projects.<\/p>\n

\n\tMusic Scoring.\u00a0Music scoring costs earn an additional 10% incentive as long as five musicians are hired to perform work in New York State.<\/p>\n

\n\tPat Swinney Kaufman, Commissioner of NYC\u2019s Mayor\u2019s Office of Media and Entertainment welcomed amendments to New York\u2019s tax credit programs \u201cto keep NYC financially competitive with other locations. NYC\u2019s workforce, infrastructure, iconic backdrops and \u2018City of Yes\u2019 attitude make our city the best in the world for filming.\u201d She thanked Gov. Hochul along with Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins, Deputy Leader Gianaris, Speaker Heastie, the State Legislature and Mayor Eric Adams, \u201cwho communicated to Albany the need for state support to this vital sector.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cCongratulations\u00a0and thank you to Governor Hochul and state lawmakers for this momentous expansion of what is a proven economic driver for New York,\u201d added\u00a0Charles\u00a0Rivkin, chairman and CEO of the MPA, in a statement.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cFilm and TV production brings jobs, supports local businesses, and drives economic growth. Whenever a major production shoots on location, it adds $1.3 million to communities and local economies every day of filming. The enhanced and extended film incentive program will further cement New York as a leader in the entertainment and creative sectors,\u201d Rivkin said. \u201cAs the outpouring of support from across the state has made clear, New York crews, creatives, and small businesses are applauding leaders in Albany today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn California, plans for new incentives are working through the state legislature. Gov. Gavin Newsom<\/a>\u2019s proposals would increase to the overall cap on incentives to $750 million annually, a major jump from the current $330 million cap. The proposal would also modernize the program in several ways, including by expanding the definition of a qualified motion picture to include series with episodes averaging 20 minutes or more, animation films, series, and shorts, and large-scale competition shows.<\/p>\n

\n\tAdditionally, the bills propose increasing the available credit amount for an individual project from 20% to 35% for amounts paid or incurred in Los Angeles. They also give the California Film Commission leeway to allow for additional credit percentages by 5% in other areas of economic opportunity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The delayed New York State budget has been signed and sealed by Gov. Kathy Hochul with expanded incentives…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1597,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[153,2077,2078,2079,9,2080,11,10,2058,2081,49,51,50,2082,2083],"class_list":{"0":"post-1596","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-donald-trump","9":"tag-gavin-newsom","10":"tag-jon-voight","11":"tag-la-production","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-governor-kathy-hochul","14":"tag-new-york-headlines","15":"tag-new-york-news","16":"tag-new-york-production","17":"tag-new-york-production-incentives","18":"tag-new-york-state","19":"tag-new-york-state-headlines","20":"tag-new-york-state-news","21":"tag-runaway-production","22":"tag-tariffs"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}