When you think of TV and movie production, you inevitably think of Hollywood. Bright Eye would be actors, screenwriters, directors, cinematographers, and more have been migrating to sunny California for over a century with the hopes of fulfilling their filmmaking dreams. Los Angeles is the first and last word in moving pictures. Or at least, it was. For the past 25 years or so, California has seen a significant exodus of filmmaking talent and money. In 2017, only 10 of the top 100 films were produced mostly in California. The question is, what happened? Stick around and find out on this short edition of Out of Frame. At the beginning of the 20th century, filmmaking largely happened on the East Coast, New Jersey, to be exact. Films were short and silent, but incredibly popular and highly lucrative. However, the motion picture patents company, called the Edison Trust after its ringleader, Thomas Edison, was relentless in protecting its patents on filming and screening equipment. In doing so, it exerted a huge amount of control over practically every aspect of moviemaking. Anyone who tried to go around the trust was swamped with lawsuits or even faced hired thugs who broke equipment. And sometimes bones. As you can imagine, a lot of producers weren't particularly thrilled with this situation. So, they headed west. Not only was Southern California as far away from the Edison Trust as they could get while staying in the United States, it also turned out to have an ideal climate for filming in an era of very little artificial lighting. And thus, Hollywood was born. But now, it's sort of dying. And, consequently, some of the very same reasons that drove the movie business to Los Angeles in the first place are what's driving production companies out of Los Angeles today. Song, suckers! At the beginning of the 1900s, both real estate and labor were comparatively inexpensive in Hollywood. And it had a reputation for quality, open shop, non-union workers. According to historian Stephen J. Ross, the pro-business orientation of the courts and city council helped local employers undercut the strength of organized labor in other parts of the country. Oh, how things change. During the initial boom of TV production in the 50s and again in the 80s with the popularization of home video, Hollywood saw dramatic increases in the unionization of workers. Today, pretty much every facet of filmmaking, from actors to makeup artists to technical crews, are all unionized with their unique roles tightly protected. Good luck trying to pick up and move something as simple as a C-stand without a fight if you're not in local 479. Now, maybe you think this is a good thing, maybe not. But between that and the numerous ways that California's legal environment raises the cost of doing business in every other way, what it ultimately means is that film production in California is expensive. That opens up tons of opportunities for competition with other parts of the world. In the mid-1990s, other states and countries began offering sweet, sweet financial incentives to production companies in an effort to attract cool new jobs. And the tax revenue those jobs would theoretically create. Now, for most states, there are two primary ways of encouraging business investment. Subsidies and tax breaks. And it's really worth pointing out the difference between the two. Subsidies are actual payments to companies, literally giving them money that has been collected from others through taxation. On the other hand, tax breaks, which make up the lion's share of incentive packages, allow certain businesses and individuals to simply keep more of the money that they make than they otherwise would have. Both are preferential treatment, but keeping your own money is not the same thing as being given someone else's. That's important. With the profit margins on filmmaking shrinking by the day, production companies were super happy to take advantage of friendlier tax climates and non-hyper unionized workforces in places like Canada, Louisiana, and Georgia, where I live. California is trying to claw back some of that business by increasing their caps on both tax credits and the number of projects they apply to. But they're not doing themselves any favors by insisting that a large portion of the local freelancers be hired as permanent and much more expensive employees, particularly writers and musicians. When it comes to entertainment production, just like everything else, incentives matter. For film producers, it sometimes means moving to a location where they have a better chance to make and keep more money. Personally, since I've lived in LA and don't really want to go back, I'd be perfectly happy if the industry keeps moving to Atlanta. But imagine how much more prosperous California or anywhere could be if they just lowered the economic barriers for everyone. Hey everybody, thanks for watching this short episode of Out of Frame. What did you think? Let me know in the comments. If you want to know more about the history of Hollywood and its current state, check out the links in the description and don't forget to like, share, and subscribe to all our social channels on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Thanks for watching.