Producers line up for California film tax credits

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California may be teetering on financial collapse and about to pay its bills with IOUs, but that doesn’t appear to be discouraging filmmakers and producers from seeking film tax credits from the state.

The California Film Commission said it received 56 applications for the tax credits on Monday, the first day companies could apply. The tax credits were adopted earlier this year by the state Legislature in an effort to keep movie and television production from migrating to other states.

‘We got a great response,’’ said Amy Lemisch, director of the California Film Commission, the state agency that is administering the program. Applicants included movies of the week to low-budget features, cable series and studio films, she said. ‘We got a little of everything.’

The commission will review the applications over the next 20 days and send out ‘credit allocation letters’ to those who qualify. Because of the interest, the commission has devised a lottery system to determine which applications will be reviewed first. The tax credits won’t take effect until 2011.

To compete with cheaper locales, the Legislature this year agreed to allocate $500 million in film tax credits over a five-year period. Producers can obtain a tax credit totaling 20% to 25% of ‘qualified production expenses.’ There are a number of restrictions: Only feature films that cost $75 million or less are eligible. The program also is limited to new basic cable TV series, movies of the week or miniseries and existing TV series that move back to California.

-- Richard Verrier