84% of films rejected for tax credits in California spent over $1 million

© 2013 Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
California's film tax incentive program brought in an estimated $1.1 billion of local spending while 84% of films that were rejected for subsidies spent more than $1 million in other states.

A report in the Washington Post confirms that the California Film Commission's latest study revealed state tax relief expenditure of $155 million brought in significant returns for local business.

While the political wrangling over state tax rebates for film productions continue, California's current incentive program is significantly less attractive than other states such as New York, where subsidy caps in tax programs are much higher.

Over the past several years the state of California has slowly lost its competitive edge with other states and countries like Canada, New Zealand and the UK providing very competitive tax incentives.

The next two Star Wars films are being shot in the UK, while arguably the biggest blockbusters to come : Avatar 2 and 3 are also being shipped out to New Zealand.

Will state officials make a change to the current program, and if so, how much are they willing to increase the incentives budget?