October 16, 2025

This week marked the end of the 2025 legislative session in California, capping off a whirlwind of legislative activity across the country affecting our members and our industry. With the various sessions now officially closed, we want to thank you, and also provide a brief recap of the key legislation this year that most affects us, as well as highlight policy themes that will emerge when the next session kicks off in January.

A significant battle was to renew and expand California’s Film and TV Tax Credit. We worked closely with our partners at the EUC to ultimately secure a new $750 million annual credit, more than doubling the previous annual credit of $330 million.

_{We were proud to stand with our industry partners as Gov. Newsom signed the new credit into law.}

Our members’ voices and input were valuable – through your experiences, and through your direct outreach on line, in Sacramento, by providing legislators with set visits, through the news media, by sending emails, making calls, and otherwise making sure that our elected officials knew how important this credit would be for your families, for the entertainment industry and for the overall economy.

38 states already offer some form of incentive program for our industry, and in addition to California, both Texas and New York saw significant changes this year.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul approved an increase to the cap on the state’s film and TV subsidy to $800 million, and extended the program through 2036. The expansion creates a $100 million pool earmarked for independent projects and ups the payout for production companies that frequently film in the state. It doubles down on its Indie support by also remedying longtime grievances with the program, including delays in receiving the credit and restrictions around above-the-line costs eligible for the rebate – now making New York even more competitive with neighboring New Jersey whose program was revamped last year.

The Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program increased its allocation to $300 million every other year through 2035, while also increasing the grant rebate of up to 31% of the production’s qualified in-state spending.

Our statehouses understand the need to compete for one of our legacy industries, and finally, the federal government is taking notice and examining its policies. The PGA continues to fight for a federal tax incentive that would be stackable upon subsidies provided by states, and we will continue to educate our federal representatives and push for the regulations and incentives that keep people working here at home.

It was all Artificial Intelligence all the time, not just for the PGA, but for all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Washington, D.C., introducing legislation on this topic this year. 38 states adopted or enacted around 100 measures this year that ranged from telehealth to deep fakes to kids safety.

The most sweeping legislation was signed this week in California. The Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act, requires large AI developers to make public disclosures about safety protocols and for them to report safety incidents.The legislation will also create whistleblower protections and make cloud computing available for smaller developers and researchers. This signals California’s willingness to regulate technologies in its own backyard, while the Federal government continues its hands off approach. We know the issue isn’t new technology, but how humans deploy and regulate it, which is why we will continue to work with our representatives in Sacramento to protect producers.

Just last week we saw first hand how the next wave of AI can affect our industry with Sora2. The PGA is working with experts and organizations from within and outside the entertainment industry as we continue to assess the deployment of new AI tools for threats to artistic integrity and copyright. In the immediate, we strongly recommend that in order to protect against potential infringements to copyright that our members “opt out” and fully understand the terms and conditions and data control settings on any platforms you are considering, and always exercise caution when sharing or creating materials within an AI platform. Information can be found here: https://producersguild.org/safeguarding-producers-intellectual-property.

We know that next year's various legislative sessions will continue to iterate and introduce bills that regulate artificial intelligence, data/privacy, and how children interact online – both with social media and streaming platforms. Know that we are tracking and fighting for you.