The California gubernatorial election is underway as eight leading candidates compete to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, and one issue remains critical to the entertainment industry: bringing production back to the Golden State.
TheWrap spoke to some of the leading gubernatorial candidates on the ground at the CBS California Governor’s Debate last week about their thoughts on bringing film production back to California, with plans that range from uncapped state tax credits to working with Donald Trump to secure a federal tax credit. Other candidates have already spoken about the issue, or laid out their plans online.
TheWrap cobbled all of the comments together to create this cheat sheet on every major candidate’s position on helping the entertainment community in this state.
There will be a lot of eyes on this issue, given the state of Hollywood. While Newsom was friendly to this community, particularly during his second term when he more than doubled the tax incentive from $330 million to $750 million, production has still fled the state in droves.
The number of shoot days in Los Angeles County in 2025 fell 16% from 2024 to below 20,000, and shoot days recorded in all major film and television categories were at least 30% below the five-year average, underlining the exodus of productions — and labor for local industry workers — as studios seek tax credits elsewhere.
There are signs of life. The California Film Commission expanded its program in 2025, which increased the annual cap and broadened eligibility to include more streaming series, animation and sitcoms, leading to increased production in the short term. The California Film Commission approved 147 film and television projects, a 53% year-over-year increase.
FilmLA also reported 5,121 days of on-location shooting in the first quarter of 2026. That’s a 10.7% improvement from the 4,625 shoot days recorded in the last quarter of 2025, but still 3.3% down from the 5,295 days recorded in the prior year quarter.
Candidates including hedge fund billionaire Tom Steyer, former Fox News host Steve Hilton and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan each want to increase the state’s tax credit program to be uncapped for producers. Hilton and Mahan, specifically, want the program to include above and below-the-line expenditures.
Unions have sought to keep the program focused on below-the-line costs, as a way to target incentive dollars at productions with the most crew jobs. But the studios, which negotiate through the Motion Picture Association, have lobbied to include above-the-line costs, arguing that it is necessary to contend with states like Georgia and New York.
The primary election is June 2, and from there the top two finishers will advance to a November runoff.
Tom Steyer
Steyer, a billionaire businessman, environmentalist and progressive activist, proposed a 10-point strategy to strengthen the film and entertainment industry earlier this month.
The hedge fund founder plans to expand the California film tax credit program to be uncapped in order to rival international markets as well as domestic locations like New York and New Jersey.
“I don’t view those tax credits as a cost, because more than that money comes back to the state of California,” Steyer told TheWrap at CBS’s gubernatorial debate.
The first-time politician also said he would cut red tape in the permitting process, making it easier for producers to logistically shoot in California. He plans to eliminate unnecessary hurdles around permitting, regulations and logistics that slow down the production timeline.
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees backed Steyer in the race for governor, specifically for his interest in keeping film and TV production in Los Angeles. IATSE represents about 50,000 motion picture workers in California and 130,000 workers overall in the U.S.
“The entertainment industry, the movie industry, was invented here. It is the source of tens of thousands of good paying, middle class union jobs,” he said. “I will do whatever it takes to protect it. That means, yes, we will spend more money on the tax credit program.”
He also took a strong stance against the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger. This issue was also at the top of his plan to revive film production in the state.
“I was absolutely opposed to that merger,” he reiterated. “It’s clearly anti-competitive. It’s clearly an attempt to fire thousands of people, and the idea that the president of that company [David Zaslav] took a $700 million to $800 million personal payout to fire thousands of his coworkers.”
Steyer also championed a federal film incentive. He said he will work with national leaders to push for federal incentives that work hand-in-hand with state programs to keep production in the U.S. A federal film production incentive, like the one in the UK and Australia, does not yet exist in America.
Steve Hilton
The former Fox host and leading Republican candidate for California governor Steve Hilton unveiled his plan to bring film and television production back to California on Thursday, proposing ambitious federal tax incentives and uncapped state credits.
Endorsed by President Donald Trump, Hilton stated that if elected he would work directly with the Trump administration to secure a federal tax incentive. A program like this does not yet exist in the United States.
“It’s so tragic to see what’s happened with this benign neglect that we’ve had over these years of one party rule by the Democrats,” Hilton told TheWrap. “I will turn that around.”
He also proposed a nationwide incentive that would compete with Canada, Australia and the U.K., who operate with national tax incentives.
Hilton also announced he would support a film tax credit plan that could go up to 60% for some productions and would never fall below 40%, making it the most ambitious out of all the candidates. The current tax credit rate for productions in California sits around 35% with a ceiling set at 45%.
This tax incentive program would substantially increase what is already considered the most generous film tax break program in the country, despite California having a higher cost-of-living than competing states.
Like many of his fellow candidates, Hilton supports an uncapped, open production incentive model. However, he plans to apply tax incentives to spending both above and below-the-line, including post-production fees. Unions are wary of this, though, because the money may not all land in the pockets of middle class crew workers.
The first-time politician is best known as a former political adviser to former U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron. He became a U.S. citizen in 2021.
Matt Mahan
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan supports an uncapped tax incentive break, too, expanding the program beyond Newsom’s $750 million tax credit.
Mahan proposed eliminating the $750 million cap on California’s film and television tax credit entirely and giving producers a 40% refundable credit. The mayor has stated that there will be no loss to the taxpayer.
“I’m not worried about the producers and the celebrities. They’re going to have work wherever it happens in the world,” he told TheWrap. “I’m worried about the costume and set designers, the grips, all the folks who are just making a living in a creative economy that they love, and that they came up in, and that’s been decimated in our state.”
His plan to protect Hollywood jobs applies to both above-the-line and below-the-line expenditures — meaning there is no fixed limit on the amount of qualifying payments across either category. It’s based on the model established by the United Kingdom, North Carolina and New Jersey.
He also introduced a plan to include live events in the tax credit program.
Xavier Becerra
Becerra has some of the most extensive experience in public service among the gubernatorial candidates, most recently serving as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Joe Biden.
Formerly he served as California Attorney General, a congressman for Los Angeles and a state assembly member. However, Becerra has not clearly made his stance on how he would support the entertainment industry if elected governor.
An adviser to Becerra previously said that he also supports the industry, but was unsure of his views on the incentive cap.
“He is willing to do whatever needs to happen to support the film industry,” the adviser, Michael Bustamante, told Variety. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he supports easing the cap. The problem is we’ve got budget issues overall. We have to be smart about it.”
Becerra’s team did not return TheWrap’s request for comment.
Antonio Villaraigosa
The former Los Angeles mayor from 2005 to 2013, Villaraigosa told TheWrap he has a long history of supporting the entertainment industry in California.
The Democratic politician said that if elected he would uncap the film tax incentive to compete with Georgia’s tax credit program capped at $1.5 billion, and New York and New Jersey’s uncapped programs. He also wants to extend the tax program to include spending on above-the-line talent.
“Those people in Sacramento who say it should only be for the caterers and lighting people and that it shouldn’t be for anybody else — the film’s not going to get made if those other people aren’t in it,” Villaraigosa told TheWrap.
If elected, Villaraigosa also plans to cut red tape in the film departments at the state level, specifically around parking and permitting. He told TheWrap that he refused to pay security and parking officials at his own commercial set after they no-showed.
“I did a commercial the other day, and the security folks and the parking people never showed up, and they still wanted their money,” he said. “I said no.”
“FilmLA needs to get its act together,” he added. “And all of the county-run or city-run film departments need to do the same. The fact is: they charge too much. They take too long.”
Katie Porter
Former Rep. Katie Porter said she wants to see how the expanded $750 million incentive is playing out before committing to increasing it further.
“If we are hitting the limit of what we have allocated and we are seeing more potential, we should go back and not let the cap stand in our way,” she said in a previous interview with Variety. “I’m not afraid to raise the cap if we’re seeing really good take-up.”
Porter has been endorsed by the Teamsters union, which has a significant Hollywood presence. Other Hollywood unions typically do not endorse as a matter of policy.
“Teamsters across our state are ready for a governor who stands with working people,” Peter Finn and Chris Griswold, co-chairs of Teamsters California, said in a joint statement. “We need a government that works for everyone — not just big corporations and their billionaire owners. Porter has a proven record of putting workers first. During her time in Congress, she has fought alongside our members and taken on greedy CEOs who want to destroy jobs in the name of corporate profits.”
Porter’s team did not return TheWrap’s request for comment.
Chad Bianco
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco has not formally laid out his plan to bring film production back to California. A longtime law enforcement officer, his sheriff position is his first elected office.
The Republican candidate has outlined his plans for public safety, affordability, education, immigration, housing, transportation infrastructure and climate on his campaign website.
Bianco’s team did not return TheWrap’s request for comment.
Tony Thurmond
Thurmond currently serves as the top education official in the state as California Superintendent of Public Instruction. Before that position, he served as a California state assemblymember from 2014 to 2018.
The Democratic candidate has not published an official plan for how he plans to support film production in California. His campaign website details his accomplishments, legislative scorecard and endorsements, but it does not state his positions on the leading issues in the race.
Thurmond’s team did not return TheWrap’s request for comment.
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