‘Impeachment: American Crime Story’, ‘Star Trek: Picard’ & ‘Euphoria’ 2nd Seasons Among CA Tax Credit Winners

The state of California is putting some serious money into trying to get a President out of office, but not that POTUS.

FX’s Clive Owen as Bill Clinton’s Impeachment: American Crime Story joins 15 other small screen offerings today as the latest recipients of the Golden State’s lucrative tax incentives. Just over a month after the most recent round of big screen recipients were made public, there are 10 recurring series, four new shows and two big ticket relocating series sharing the $152 million available for this allocation period.

While the shift of Netflix’s Emmy nominated and Jim Parsons produced Special from Austin, Texas to Cali is obvious from the chart below, you might wonder why the Hell you’ve never heard of Dream? Before, you start a Google search to see what the series is, let me save you some headache. There is no Dream, that’s actually an alias for the recently officially confirmed second season of the Lee Eisenberg, Kumail Nanjiani, Emily V. Gordon and Alan Yang produced anthology immigrant comedy series Little America from Universal TV, which is set to launch its first season on AppleTV+ on January 17. Little America is moving from New Jersey, where its first season was shot.

Relocating series may get a lot of the spotlight in these allocations since the expanded $330 million annual incentive program became law in 2014, but it is the return of an intergalactic icon that snared the most money. In fact, more than $20.4 million in tax credits that the now confirmed second season of the January 23 launching first season of Star Trek: Picard received this November 4 – 8 application slot is the most any TV series, new, relocating or recurring has ever gotten from the California Film Commission-run program.

Estimated by the CFC to be on board to generate around $782 million in qualified spending in below-the-line wages and payments to in-state vendors, check out the chart below to see who got how much of what from California this round in relocating, recurring and new series:

As well as the returning Patrick Stewart-led Picard, which snagged just $15.6 million in incentives last year, the Nicole Kidman starring and produced and Hulu bound Nine Perfect Strangers, the Kate McKinnon EP’d and starring limited series The Dropout, also headed for the Disney-controlled streamer, are newbies this round. Further seasons of FX’s Mayans MC, HBO’s Zendaya fronted Euphoria, CBS All Access’ Marc Cherry produced Why Women Kill, the once relocating Good Girls, a third run of the now Netflix set You and ABC’s Nathan Fillion-led LAPD based The Rookie are also dipping into the pot, along with the HBO Max ordered spinoff Grease: Rydell High and HBO’s as yet still untitled L.A. Lakers drama, which does seem like a no-brainer to make in California.

“Adam and I are thrilled to be able to participate in the California Film Commission tax credit program for our HBO series about the Los Angeles Lakers,” said Untitled Showtime Lakers Project EP Kevin Messick today of the one hour drama from he and pilot director Adam McKay’s Hyperobject Industries. “We couldn’t imagine filming this show anywhere else, and we’re happy that HBO has the additional support from the state to help ensure this show stays local,” Messick added.

At $18.4 million in tax credits, the John C. Reilly, Jason Clarke and Quincy Isaiah starring adaption of Jeff Pearlman’s book Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s is the second most allocated series in the state program’s history, since it was given new life by then Governor Jerry Brown over five years ago.

After a break for the holidays and more streaming wars on the horizon, the new year sees the next TV application period run from February 3 – 7, 2020. With the tax credit program scheduled to run to at least 2025, due to to an extension approved by Gov. Brown before exiting office earlier this year, the next round for feature films to get their digital applications in is March 9 – 13 next year, a month after the 92nd Academy Awards.