Movies from NBCUniversal, Sony, Amazon, 20th Century and Apple nabbed tens of millions of dollars in tax credits to shoot in California as the state unveiled incentives for 28 projects on Wednesday.
Leading this round was the untitled Universal Pictures Snoop Dogg biopic from Hustle & Flow director Craig Brewer, which received more than $17 million in tax credits from the California Film Commission’s program. Outer Banks actor Jonathan Daviss will portray Snoop in the lead role for a project that has a logline tracing the rapper’s path to fame.
“Big love to the California Film Commission and Gov. Newsom for holdin’ it down with that tax credit,” said Snoop. “California raised me, inspired me, and now helpin’ bring this biopic to life in 2026.” The movie is set to shoot for 50 days, employing 84 cast members and 190 crew members and hundreds more background actors and is estimated to spend $48.3 million in the state while in production.
An untitled feature from Apple Studios received $14 million in credits for this round, followed by an untitled Amazon Studios thriller project that nabbed $12 million. Of the 28 features, 23 were classified as independent projects while 5 were labeled as major studio features. One of those major features, Business Women from 20th Century, was granted $9.3 million in tax credits while an untitled Sony feature produced by Glen Powell received $9.9 million.
Of the titles deemed indie, Ang Lee’s feature epic Gold Mountain about the California Gold Rush is appropriately aiming to shoot in Sacramento County and will nab about $7.7 million in tax credits from the state. The movie, backed by Fifth Season and described as a project with a budget above $10 million, is slated to shoot 50 days in the state with 58 cast members and 170 crew while spending $31 million in the state.
Another indie, Guerrero, a Mexican-American boxing drama directed by Gina Rodriguez, received $4.4 million in tax incentives to shoot in Los Angeles. The film’s producer, Scott Budnick, stated, “this film is a love letter to a community that is woven into the fabric of our state, so it’s only right that we shoot this project here.”
The mix of indies and majors, tilted heavily toward the indies, mirrors the last round of projects to get credits from the state commission, which gave incentives to 42 independent films and 10 studio features in October, including Michael Mann’s Heat 2. California is hoping to build momentum to keep projects shooting in state with a doubled film tax credit program that now awards $750 million in incentives annually. Some 18 of the indie projects in the latest round were labeled as features with budgets above $10 million.
But despite renewed effort from lawmakers to keep movies and TV projects from shooting in other locales, the state’s production spend in the third quarter fell 10 percent year-over-year to $1.5 billion, which industry tracker ProdPro attributed to more indie films shooting in California as opposed to big-budget features, which usually employ more crewmembers.
In Los Angeles, 10 percent more features were shot in the latest quarter but more of those movies were indie projects, permitting office FilmLA disclosed October 14. (Spending decline isn’t just a California problem. ProdPro estimates total global production spend for 2025 at $41.6 billion, about 7 percent lower overall than last year.)
“This latest round of tax credit awards builds on that legacy while delivering real results across the state: good-paying jobs, stronger local economies, and thriving small businesses,” Gov. Gavin Newsom stated.
California Film Commission director Colleen Bell noted that this round of incentives includes more projects with “California-centric” stories being told, perhaps a signal of how the state is looking to grant incentives. “We’re very proud to feature so many California-centric stories with this round,” Bell said. “These aren’t just movies shooting here, they’re also telling the stories of the places where they’re shooting.”
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