EXCLUSIVE: According to the California Film Commission, which administers the tax credit program, due to the ongoing Writers Guild strike, half of the 46 projects currently participating in California’s film incentive program have received “force majeure” requests seeking exemptions from extending their mandatory start dates submitted . The number of approved film and television projects requesting force majeure delays is expected to increase as the strike, which is now in its 25th day, continues.
“Due to the WGA strike, this allocation period may be delayed until the strike is resolved,” the Film Commission notes on its website. For recurring and postponed TV series, this allocation period begins next month.
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The state statute that approved the tax credit program defines force majeure as “an event or series of events not under the control of the qualifying taxpayer, including the death, disability, disfigurement, or violation of the film director or leading cast members.” Member, an act of God, including but not limited to fire, flood, earthquake, storm, hurricane or other natural disaster, work stoppage, terrorist activity or government sanctions.”
The 23 projects that have applied for force majeure extensions include ongoing television series at various stages of production and pre-production. The main deadline they want to extend is the 180-day start date, which begins on the date a Credit Allocation Letter is issued. The stipulations state that productions must begin principal photography within 180 days of receipt of the credit allocation letter. Approved projects with a qualifying spend budget of $100 million or more have 240 days to begin filming. Projects must also complete production within 30 months.
Once a force majeure request is deemed valid, the California Film Commission effectively halts compliance with the timeline and resumes it when productions are able to resume filming.
The move by production companies to seek force majeure protection during the WGA strike is similar to that seen in the early days of the Covid pandemic, when the vast majority of projects eligible for the state’s tax credits filed for force majeure extensions . The Film Commission noted that on March 27, 2020 it had issued a production warning stating “the impact of Covid-19 on film production as a force majeure event”. This allowed productions to request and receive exemptions for all time-sensitive tax credit program parameters, alleviating fears that projects would lose their tax credit reservation if they were unable to start or finish their projects in accordance with program requirements.”
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According to the Film Commission, film and television production supports well over 700,000 jobs and nearly $70 billion in wages for California workers. California offers $420 million a year in movie incentives, but that’s nowhere near enough to support all the movies and TV shows that want to be filmed here.
The WGA strike began on May 2 after negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers failed to reach an acceptable agreement. The core issues of the guild include significant increases in compensation, minimum staffing, tenure, the establishment of viewer-based streaming residuals, and limiting the use of artificial intelligence to create screenplays.