The force will be strong in California as the new Star Wars movie, ‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’ will be filmed in the state.
The film is one of 15 productions that is expected to bring around $408 million into the state’s economy, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office. The movie will also have “the largest total qualified expenditures in the history of the California Film and Television Tax Credit Program.”
Colleen Bell, the head of the California Film Commission, told L.A.’s Afternoon News this is big news for the state.
“This will be the first Star Wars movie to be shot 100% in California,” she said. “Back in the 1980s, ‘Return of the Jedi’ used some exterior shots of California landscape, but that was about it. So it's all taking place here in California and just this project alone will be hiring 500 crew members, 54 in cast and we've got 3500 background.”
“These projects are on track to bring in over $610 million in total production spending here in California, and also important after these strikes too,” she said.
Also important – the tax credit program.
“Our tax credit program is a very important economic development tool and it's necessary because one of the primary considerations for decision makers of where they're going to shoot a project is whether or not they'll be able to receive a tax credit for that to offset the production cost,” she said. “So we really need to have this robust tax credit program to keep production here to keep California workers working here in California.”
Of the 15 productions, five are big-budget and 10 are independent films.
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