By A.J. Catoline
Local 700 officials joined lawmakers and other industry leaders in North Hollywood Monday to voice support to a prospective standalone post-production tax incentive that they hope would reinvigorate jobs for California-based Editors Guild members.
At a morning press conference, Editors Guild President F. Hudson Miller delivered a strong call for action while urging safeguards for Local 700 members. “Right now, far too many of them are out of work,” Miller said. “They are not asking for favors. They’re only asking for a fair shot.” He emphasized the need for a targeted incentive: “A standalone post-production tax credit… is the right idea. It is the right time.
“We have union members who did everything right… and now far too many of them are struggling to find their next job.”
While endorsing the concept behind AB 2319, a proposed piece of legislation headed to committee this week, Miller urged lawmakers to strengthen the bill in order to ensure it creates high-quality, union jobs. The bill “needs clear, strong labor standards … that ensure that these tax credits go to reputable, conscientious employers.” The Guild is pushing for language to ensure jobs subsidized by the tax credit pay fair wages and offer good health and retirement benefits.
The push for the legislation comes as the film and TV business has been wracked by economic pressures, leading producers to abandon California for places offering more attractive tax packages. Assemblymember Nick Schultz, the bill’s author, emphasized the urgency of addressing job losses in the film and television industry, at a time when many Editors Guild members are struggling to find consistent employment.
“Post-production jobs are incredibly important… [they are] good paying, they’re stable, and these are jobs that we have historically taken for granted in California,” he said. “It’s finally time that California step forward and compete.”
Schultz underscored the bill’s economic stakes, noting that California has lost “more than 1,800 post-production jobs” in recent years, contributing to over $1.6 billion in lost annual economic output.
Schultz noted that while the recently passed California tax incentives for production are supporting jobs for post-production workers, it is not adequate because in-state post jobs do not qualify for credit on projects that shot elsewhere. California’s film tax credit requires 75% of principal photography to have been shot in the state.’
Watch Assemblymember Nick Schultz’ Full Speech
Assemblymember Tom Lackey, Vice Chair of the committee and a Republican, voiced support for the measure. “The red carpet does not run Hollywood,” Lackey said. “We need to do the responsible thing… to re-employ these people and be the leaders in Hollywood that we deserve to be.”
Congressional leaders also spoke at the eventl. Congresswoman Laura Friedman, whose 30th district includes large portions of Hollywood and Burbank, highlighted the broader impact on the region: “We should not be willingly losing that signature industry,” she said. “California created this industry and we’re gonna keep it here.” She added that AB 2319 represents “exactly the kind of smart and focused legislation that we need right now.”
Friedman noted that before she joined Congress, she was a television producer who worked at Paramount Studios. Her husband was a film editor who was a member of Local 700.
Congresswoman Luz Rivas stressed the importance of keeping jobs local. “We want to live here, we want to work here, we want the jobs to stay here,” she said. “Assemblymember Schultz’s bill will keep post-production jobs in our state, ensuring that California remains the global leader in the entertainment industry.”
Marielle Abaunza, President of the California Post Alliance, called the effort explicitly bipartisan and urgent: “California was falling behind and was losing so much work,” she said. She also emphasized the hidden nature of the workforce: “There are so many people hurting in post-production, and it is not visible.” Abaunza added, “Each of those names represents a job… people that put back into the local economy.”
AB 2319 now heads to committee, where its proponents hope momentum will translate into legislative action.
Miller expressed optimism that the aims could be reached: “We all have a shared goal here. We want to see California thrive… We just need the opportunity.”
