California Code of Regulations › Title 10 - Investment › Chapter 7.75 - California Film Commission › Article 2 - California Film and Television Job Retention and Promotion Act California Film and Television Tax Credit Program 2.0 › Section 5508 - Definitions

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
(a) "Applicable
				period" refers to production outside the Los Angeles zone, but in the state of
				California that commences with preproduction and ends when original photography
				concludes outside the Los Angeles zone. It includes the time necessary to
				strike a remote location and return to the Los Angeles zone.
(b) "Applicant" is any person, corporation,
				partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company (LLC) or other
				entity that is principally engaged in the production of a "qualified motion
				picture" and that controls the film or television program during preproduction,
				production and postproduction. The applicant is the qualified taxpayer that
				upon final approval will receive the tax credit certificate.
(c) "California Film Commission" (CFC) is a
				state entity established and described in Government Code section
				14998 et
				seq. that among other functions facilitates and promotes motion picture and
				television production in the State of California.
(d) "California in-state Vendor" is a vendor
				or supplier which has an office or other place of business in California, and
				is registered or qualified with the California Secretary of State, or is
				required to file a return with the California Franchise Tax Board under Parts
				10 or 11 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.
(e) "Credit Allocation Letter" (CAL) is the
				document issued by the California Film Commission reserving an amount of tax
				credits to an applicant having a qualified motion picture based on an estimate
				of qualified expenditures.
(f)
				"Contracted Services" means the hiring of a third party to work or perform
				services on behalf of the applicant, including but not limited to visual effect
				shot costs, makeup prosthetic packages, sound mixing, and creation of
				postproduction delivery items.
(g)
				"Feature Film" means a production of a film intended for commercial
				distribution to a motion picture theater, directly to the home video market, or
				via the internet that has a running time of at least seventy-five (75) minutes
				in length.
(h) "Force Majeure"
				means an event or series of events, which are not under the control of the
				qualified tax payer including death, disability, or breach by the motion
				picture director or principal cast member, an act of God, including, but not
				limited to, fire, flood, earthquake, storm, hurricane or other natural
				disaster, terrorist activities or government sanction.
(i) "Hiatus" means a break or interruption in
				the continuity of work.
(j)
				"Independent film" means a production of a film with a running time of at least
				seventy-five (75) minutes intended for commercial distribution to a motion
				picture theater, directly to the home video market, directly to television, or
				via the internet. An independent film shall have a minimum budget of one
				million dollars ($1,000,000) and be produced by a company that is not publicly
				traded and a publicly traded company does not own, directly or indirectly, more
				than 25 percent of the producing company.
(k) "Jobs Ratio" means the amount of
				qualified wages paid to qualified individuals divided by the amount of tax
				credit as further described in Revenue and Taxation Code section
				17053.95(b)(7)
				and
				23695(b)(7).
(l) "Miniseries" means a motion picture based
				on a single theme or storyline that is resolved within the piece. A miniseries
				consists of two or more episodes with a total running time of at least
				one-hundred fifty (150) minutes in length.
(m) "Movie of the Week" which may also be
				known as "MOW" or "made for television movie" means a motion picture produced
				for initial exploitation on television, which contains a scripted storyline
				with a total running time of at least seventy-five (75) program minutes in
				length, exhibited in one part.
(n)
				"Office or other place of business" means real property with a physical address
				in California that is owned or leased by a vendor for the purpose of conducting
				business. For purposes of these regulations, conducting business includes
				maintaining a product inventory or otherwise creating, assembling or offering
				for sale the product purchased or leased by a motion picture production
				company.
(o) "Outside Los Angeles
				zone vendor" means a vendor or supplier in California which maintains an office
				or place of business outside the Los Angeles zone, and is registered or
				qualified with the California Secretary of State, or is required to file a
				return with the California Franchise Tax Board under Parts 10 or 11 of the
				Revenue and Taxation Code and employs one or more full-time employees or is a
				sole proprietor working at the place of business outside the Los Angeles zone.
				Pass-through businesses do not qualify as an "Outside Los Angeles zone
				vendor."
(p) "Pass-through
				business" means a company maintaining an office or other place of business in
				California that primarily fulfills orders from a production company for
				products or third-party services from sources other than its own inventories or
				employees.
(q) "Pick-up order"
				means a contractual obligation from a licensee-exhibitor that a pilot or
				television series has been ordered or renewed for the production of an initial
				episode or episodes to be delivered within a specific time frame.
(r) "Pilot" means the initial episode
				produced for a proposed television series that is longer than 40 minutes of
				running time, exclusive of commercials, with a minimum production budget of one
				million dollars ($1,000,000).
(s)
				"Principal photography days" means the number of days shot by the principal
				unit with the director present; and lead actors usually present. "Principal
				photography days" in California does not include the filming of primarily
				backgrounds, visual effects, action, and/or crowd scenes by the second, stunt,
				or visual effects units.
(t)
				"Producer" means any individual who receives an on-screen producer credit
				including but not limited to any of the following titles: producer,
				co-producer, line producer, executive producer, co-executive producer,
				associate producer, supervising producer, post producer, or visual effects
				producer.
(u) "Production budget"
				means the budget used by the applicant and production company and shall include
				qualified and non-qualified expenditures. Production budget shall include
				wages, goods, and services performed and incurred within and outside of
				California. It does not include costs, which are not directly associated with
				the preproduction, production or postproduction of the project, such as, but
				not limited to, distribution prints and advertising, marketing, film festival
				participation, financing, or distribution costs such as DVD
				manufacturing.
(v) "Production
				facility" means
(1) any facility used by the
				entertainment industry for the purpose of film, television, commercial or
				digital production that is in compliance with Title 24, Chapter 48 of the
				California Fire Code, as determined by the fire authority or
(2) a building, ranch or other facility
				verified by the CFC prior to the start of principal photography, that the
				primary use is film, television, commercial or digital
				production.