About 12,000 post-production jobs in California hang in the balance as AB 2319, a bill offering tax credits for editing, sound mixing, visual effects and music scoring work, heads toward a state Senate floor vote before the legislative session ends Monday, Aug. 31.

The bill, authored by Assemblymember Nick Schultz (D-Burbank), would provide a 35% to 50% refundable tax credit on qualified post-production expenses performed in California. It cleared the Senate appropriations committee earlier in August with what Deadline described as overwhelming support.

The money isn't there yet. Backers initially sought $100 million in annual funding, but first-year funding is now estimated at roughly $35 million, and no dollars have been secured in the state's $352 billion budget.

"The next seven days are critical," Schultz said Monday, Aug. 24. "We're literally in the period of speak now and forever hold your peace."

Who it would help

The bill targets a workforce that has watched LA's dominance erode. California's share of U.S. post-production employment fell from 53% to 42% over 13 years, according to CVL Economics. (CVL's co-founder, Adam Fowler, also co-founded the California Post Alliance, the bill's primary sponsor.)

Unlike the state's existing $750 million film tax credit program, AB 2319 does not require a project to have filmed in California. Productions shot in other states or countries could qualify if they bring post-production work here.

The human cost is already visible. Foley artist Alyson Dee Moore, 65, worked at Warner Bros. for 27 years on films including "Frozen," "Interstellar" and "The Dark Knight." In 2026, she couldn't log enough hours to keep her union healthcare and retired involuntarily.

"[Warner Bros.] outsources their Foley television fully; their feature [films] are not done on the lot," Dee Moore told the Los Angeles Times. "We did do 'Sinners,' but that was like the last big film we did …"

Austin Scott, 41, an Altadena resident who edited reality shows like "MasterChef" and "Dancing with the Stars," once earned $160,000 to $250,000 a year. He now works as a muralist, making less than $50,000.

The skeptics

Not everyone is convinced the credit will bring jobs back. Tulane University economist Patrick Button, a film tax incentive skeptic, argues the broad credit would mostly subsidize work already staying in California rather than attracting new projects. He said a narrower credit targeting only work currently done elsewhere would be more effective.

Fowler counters that the credit is needed to "stop the bleeding" from aggressive international incentive policies that have displaced California workers.

If the Senate passes AB 2319, it goes to term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has until Sept. 30 to sign or veto. Even with a signature, funding negotiations would likely stretch into early 2027 under a new governor.