Your Future Film Coalition News Digest #9
This week, we cover: indie wins in the expanded CA tax incentives and a quarterly recap of recent news.
The Latest in Indie Film as of July 3
Expanded California Tax Incentive Triples Indie Pool
The Future Film Coalition is thrilled that the California legislature passed an expanded production tax incentive program that includes increased support for independent film. When we identified expanded funding was possible, the FFC Tax Incentives Working Group joined a group advocating for independent features to have dedicated funding. Over the past many months, we’ve worked to ensure that any expanded incentives would reserve a portion for the indies.
Details were announced today. It more than doubles the Film & TV Tax Credit Program’s annual funding, increases the available credit amount to 35-45% (depending on the zone of production), and is a vital step to safeguarding the future of film production in the state.
Here are the additional indie wins:
$75 million, or 10% of the total annual funding, is reserved for independent fiction features of at least $1 million budget, more than tripling the previous amount
Enhanced DEIA uplifts
Lowering the budget cap to protect dedicated resources for smaller independent films
$35 million of the indie pot is reserved for films with budgets of under $10 million.
CA Film can reallocate funding between pots if, for example, the indie film pot is oversubscribed but another has remaining funds.
The legislation expands the tax incentive to 2030. In five years, we will be even better prepared to make the case for indie features and documentaries.
Quarterly Recap
Happy 4th of July weekend. Over the last three months, the research committee launched policy monitoring, this biweekly news digest (written by Abby Sun and Austin Lee Brown), and other support projects for the Future Film Coalition’s committees and targeted working groups. We summarized dozens of news items for you, from defunding federal support of the arts to the increase in film production tax incentives at the state level. We delved deep into the intricacies of Fin-Syn rules, highlighted lawsuits challenging unfair business practices, and issued special alerts on the DOGE recissions proposals targeting our field.
Since the first news digest on March 13, these missives have been written by and for independent film workers.
The rest of this news digest is a recap of four important policy buckets, as the research committee takes stock of this quarter’s seismic shifts for indie film.
Quarterly Recap
Public Funding Cuts
Since the start of the year, the Trump administration has canceled grants from the NEH, NEA, and introduced a rescission bill to claw back $1.1 billion in funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). House Republicans voted 214–212 to pass the rescissions bill with the Senate slated to vote on it after the July 4 recess. NPR, PBS, plus regional public radio stations and arts organizations have sued the Trump administration to block these efforts.
“House Republicans vote to claw back $9.4 billion in funding for foreign aid, NPR and PBS,” Sahil Kapur and Scott Wong, NBC News, June 12, 2025.
As Kapur and Wong reported, “the $9.4 billion in savings is a drop in the bucket compared to the $2.4 trillion in new deficits that Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act would create.”
“NPR and Colorado public radio stations sue Trump White House,” David Folkenflik, NPR Morning Edition, May 27, 2025.
NPR and three Colorado public radio stations filed suit against the Trump administration in late May after the executive order targeting federal funding of CPB. PBS filed a similar suit three days later, on May 30.
“Cuts to NEH and Humanities Councils: What the Midwest Will Lose,” “What Southern States Will Lose,” and other news from the Federation of State Councils, April 4, 2025.
This series of news reports from the association of state humanities councils breaks down what every U.S. region will lose with the cessation of federal humanities funding.
“Who benefits most from CPB funding? A state-by-state look at station grants,” Alex Curley, Current, Mar. 20, 2025.
In a state-by-state analysis, this study shows that CPB funding primarily benefits rural communities, the Midwest, and states whose Electoral College votes went to President Trump.
State Tax Incentives
As more film production moves abroad, California, New York, Texas, and several other state legislatures are increasing tax incentives and funding local film offices to remain competitive. Meanwhile, “Hollywood Ambassador” Jon Voight has joined others in the industry calling for a federal incentive program (more on that below).
“How Many Jobs Will California Film Credit Expansion Create?,” Gene Maddus, Variety, June 3, 2025.
In California, the current tax incentive supports 11,000 jobs, representing 1 in 9 total employed in the state’s film industry. The California Film Commission, which oversees the program, estimates that doubling the credit to “$750 million would result in a 40-50% increase in direct employment—or about 4,400 to 5,500 jobs. That’s only a fraction of the job loss experienced in California in the last couple of years, according to federal and industry data.” The Hollywood unions estimate that 17,000 jobs have evaporated since 2022.
“The Good, the Bad, and the Unknown of Texas' New Film Incentives,” Richard Whittaker, The Austin Chronicle, June 5, 2025.
The increased Texas tax incentive contains some positives for indies, but also a regressive incentive structure that reinforces the “long running complaint about [the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program] is that the sums involved for smaller projects are so negligible that it costs more to hire an accountant for the application than they’d get back.”
“New York Boosts Film Subsidy to $800 Million in Tussle With New Jersey,” Gene Maddaus, Variety, May 9, 2025.
Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill to create a new $100M tax incentive program for independent films in New York state: $20M will be dedicated to productions with budgets under $10M while the remaining $80M will be for projects with budgets over $10M.
“How London Became the New Hollywood,” Lily Ford, The Hollywood Reporter, May 8, 2025
As film production in the U.S. dropped by 40% in 2024, the UK saw a 31% increase in production revenue last year. This is largely credited to the incentive program in the UK that offers a 40% tax credit that increases to 53% for independent films with budgets of less than £15 million ($20 million).
Ethical AI Use in Film and Media
As tech companies train large language models using copyrighted material, artists and studios are suing to protect intellectual property rights and nonprofit organizations, such as the British Film Institute, are studying how to ethically use AI in film and media.
“AI in the Screen Sector: Perspectives and Paths Forward,” Angus Finney, Brian Tarran, and Rishi Coupland, CoSTAR Foresight Lab, June 2025.
This report, produced for the BFI, provides strategic, legal, and economic recommendations for screen sector development alongside AI adoption. These three are particularly pertinent for indie film in the U.S.
“Hollywood Drops The Hammer On AI, Midjourney And Stable Diffusion,” Charlie Fink, Forbes, June 14, 2025.
In Disney and NBCUniversal’s lawsuit against Midjourney, which accuses them of “systematic, ongoing, and willful” copyright infringement, the studios concluded the AI generator is a “bottomless pit of plagiarism.”
“Inside Google’s plan to have Hollywood make AI look less doomsday,” Wendy Lee, Los Angeles Times, May 22, 2025.
Google, alongside OpenAI, Anthropic, Apple, and Meta, is funding film-centered narrative change to make AI seem less “nightmarish” in the popular imagination.
Fair Competition
Over the last three months, fears of the Trump administration’s potential deregulation of Big Business haven’t fully materialized. Instead, interest in fair competition has risen, based on a raft of media coverage, newly-filed lawsuits, and even the support of Jon Voigt. (Not covered this week, but next up: the FCC has opened public comments on broadcast regulation, centering ownership caps.)
“Jon Voight’s Plan Raises Prospect Of Reinstating Fin-Syn Rules As TV Series Enter Tariff Conversation,” Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, May 7, 2025.
Voight’s plan calls for content restrictions, an “American Cultural Test,” that could be used as an ideological cudgel to disqualify productions, a 10% federal tax incentive, and notably, a return of fin-syn rules for broadcast and expansion to streaming. For a short primer on fin-syn rules and why it should be a cornerstone of any plan to boost indie film, read our previous post here.
“CinemaCloudWorks sues Comscore for antitrust violations over access to box office data,” Martin A. Steinberg, J.D., VitalLaw, May 21, 2025.
Atlas is pursuing claims under the Sherman Act, Clayton Act, and California's Unfair Competition Law, targeting Comscore's alleged abuse of its 99% market share in theatrical box office data.
“A Look Behind the Screens: Examining the Data Practices of Social Media and Video Streaming Services,” Federal Trade Commission, Sep 19, 2024.
This FTC staff report, which was several years in the making, examines the lack of consumer data protection, data security, and data deletion practices of platforms. The report found over a hundred pages of concerning practices, and makes a case for greater government oversight.
“Casual Viewing: Why Netflix looks like that,” Will Tavlin, n+1, Winter 2025.
This sharp though heady (and very long) piece outlines just how different the Netflix business model is from even the studio model. It focuses on how “Netflix doesn’t just survive when no one is watching — it thrives.”
