A Program Built to Stop the Bleeding
For years, the drumbeat out of Los Angeles was the same: soundstages sitting empty, below-the-line crews going months between gigs, and productions chasing tax credits in Georgia, New Mexico, the UK and beyond. California’s response was Program 4.0, a dramatic expansion of the state’s Film & Television Tax Credit that more than doubled the annual pool of available credits from $330 million to $750 million and raised the base credit from the old 20-25% range up to 35% of qualified expenditures.
The bet was simple: make California competitive again on paper, not just on prestige, and productions would come back. A year into the expanded program, the state has receipts to back up the wager.
The Numbers Behind the Turnaround
Across the fiscal year running from July 2025 through June 2026, the expanded program awarded credits to 170 projects, representing $6.6 billion in direct production spending and $4.3 billion in qualified in-state expenditures. Governor Newsom’s office projects the program will generate close to 35,000 cast and crew jobs across the state. For the first time in the credit’s history, animated and competition series are now eligible too, widening the pipeline of work beyond traditional scripted film and TV.
It isn’t a full return to the production boom years, and industry voices have been vocal that the gains are fragile. Hollywood trade groups have already pushed back on proposals that would cap or limit the credit further, arguing the state can’t afford to slow momentum now that it’s finally moving in the right direction.
What It Means for Below-the-Line Crews
Tax credits are usually discussed in terms of studios and line producers, but the ripple effect reaches every department on set, aerial included. More greenlit projects filming in-state means more location scouting, more days on set, and more sustained demand for specialty crews who can deliver shots a fixed camera or crane simply can’t reach.
Aerial Cinematography’s Place in the Rebound
Drone units have become a standard line item on production budgets rather than a novelty add-on, particularly for shows and features looking to establish scale and geography without the cost of a full helicopter unit. As more productions choose to stay in Los Angeles instead of relocating, local aerial teams with FAA authorizations, insurance, and airspace relationships already in place, rather than crews flown in for a single shoot, become the more efficient, lower-risk option for production offices working against tight schedules.
The Road Ahead
The expanded credit runs through the current program cycle, and the state has committed to paying out 90% of unused credits as a partially refundable benefit over time, a structural change meant to make California’s offer more attractive against fully refundable programs in other states. Whether the momentum holds depends on how the next state budget treats the program. For now, though, the data points to more cameras rolling in California, and more work for the crews, aerial units included, who make those productions possible.
