Lights, camera, action! Governor Newsom announces 28 new films coming to California, set to boost local economies
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Dec 17, 2025

Lights, camera, action! Governor Newsom announces 28 new films coming to California, set to boost local economies

The latest collection of productions filming in California includes a highly anticipated project from Academy Award winning director Ang Lee, and a Snoop Dogg-produced biopic

What you need to know: 28 films have received awards in the latest round of the state's recently expanded Film & Television Tax Credit Program, celebrating the state's creative history and the icons that are increasing production activity in California. Collectively, these projects are set to deliver $562 million in total economic activity for communities across the Golden State.

SACRAMENTO – Today, Governor Newsom announced that 28 film projects have received awards through the California Film Commission's recently expanded Film & Television Tax Credit Program. These exciting projects highlight California's diversity and include a new film from Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ang Lee, as well as a Long Beach-set biopic produced by Snoop Dogg.

Collectively, these productions will spur job growth by hiring a total of 4,837 cast and crew, along with 22,614 background performers (measured in days worked), across 831 shooting days statewide. These projects will also generate $337 million in qualified spending throughout California, including $209 million in qualified wages.

California's film and television industry isn't just an economic engine — it's part of who we are. For more than a century, the world's most iconic stories have been imagined, produced, and shared from right here, powered by unmatched talent, creativity, and innovation. 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. It's a clear signal that California remains the global home of storytelling — yesterday, today, and for generations to come.

Governor Gavin Newsom

This latest round caps off the mid-way point of Program 4.0, the newly expanded Film & Television Tax Credit Program that went into effect in July 2025 and is now one of the most robust in the nation. Inclusive of this current round, Program 4.0 has, in less than six months, generated $4.17 billion in economic activity and more than 25,000 cast and crew jobs over 4,000 filming days statewide, demonstrating the clear momentum behind film and television production in the place where it all began.

"We're very proud to feature so many California-centric stories with this round. These aren't just movies shooting here, they're also telling the stories of the places where they're shooting, drawing from our vivid history, vibrant neighborhoods and diverse and storied culture that are so uniquely California," said Colleen Bell, Director, California Film Commission. "By supporting these talented artists' storytelling, we're not only keeping entertainment jobs in-state, we're reinforcing California's status as the entertainment capital of the world and a larger-than-life character that no fictional one could ever rival."

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Highlights from this round of studio and independent films include:
  • Gold Mountain (Fifth Season)
  • Business Women (Twentieth Century Fox)
  • Untitled Project (Sony) produced by Glen Powell
  • Guerrero indie film (Warrior Stuff LLC) directed by Gina Rodriguez
  • Untitled Snoop Dogg Project (Universal)

"Big love to the California Film Commission and Gov. Newsom for holdin' it down with that tax credit. Y'all making it possible for us to tell my story right here where it all began. California raised me, inspired me, and now helpin' bring this biopic to life in 2026. Much respect – that's real teamwork, ya dig…" said Snoop Dogg, Producer, Untitled Snoop Dogg Project.

"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. I'm so fortunate that a movie with cultural resonance to and about Los Angeles and California has been selected for the Tax Credit, and I'm excited to bring these stories to the screen," said Scott Budnick, CEO, 1Community, Producer, Guerrero.

"I'm deeply honored that our film has been selected for the California Tax Credit. Having the opportunity to bring this project to life in Los Angeles means a great deal to me, not only because this city has shaped so much of my creative path, but because it allows us to collaborate with the inimitable crews and craftspeople who make California such a singular home for filmmaking," said Gina Rodriguez, Director, Guerrero.

Boosting California's local economies

Seventeen of these new projects will film in locations spanning the entire state, delivering 286 shoot days that will take place outside of the 30-mile Los Angeles filming zone. Out-of-zone locations include Alameda, Contra Costa, San Bernardino, San Francisco, Santa Barbara and Sonoma counties, as well as Joshua Tree, Palm Springs, San Luis Obispo and Temecula, generating meaningful impact for all these regional economies. Notably, five independent projects will shoot entirely out of the Los Angeles zone.

More specifically, Ang Lee's highly anticipated Gold Mountain, an epic story about the California Gold Rush, is leading the charge with 50 out-of-zone filming days – all of which will occur in Sacramento County.

About California's Film & Television Tax Credit Program

The California Film Commission (CFC) administers the Film & Television Tax Credit Program. Earlier this year, the Governor more than doubled California's Film and Television Tax Credit program — from $330 million to $750 million — and implemented key updates to keep production, below-the-line jobs, and investment rooted in California.

Since its inception in 2009, California's Film & Television Tax Credit Program has generated over $30.6 billion in economic activity and supported more than 228,000 cast and crew jobs across the state. In years past, for every dollar of tax credit awarded, California has seen massive returns — $24.40 in economic output, $16.14 in GDP and $8.60 in wages.

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The expanded program — now one of the largest capped film incentives in the nation — maintains California's competitive edge in the creative economy while continuing to prioritize workforce diversity provisions, more funding for the Career Pathways Training Program, and the nation's first Safety on Production Pilot Program.

For more information about the program, visit www.film.ca.gov.

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