Film & TV Production Incentive Updates: October 2026

Film and TV production incentives have continued to evolve in 2026. The big news in the U.S. continues to be the pending Federal incentive legislation, which is receiving bipartisan support, while California passed it's first stand-alone post-production tax credit (AB 2319). Internationally, Germany’s demand for DFFF and GMPF funding hit a wall, Queensland cut its PDV incentive and Italy is tighening it's production credit.

Entertainment Partners' global incentives experts track enacted legislation, proposed bills and funding changes across the U.S. and international jurisdictions every month—so your production team doesn't have to.

United States Production Incentive Updates

Enacted U.S. Incentive Legislation 

ALABAMA

HB 379’s small budget tier (45% on resident payroll for productions spending $100,000 to $499,999) and loan-out withholding requirement both took effect on October 1, 2026.

CALIFORNIA

AB 2319 (Schultz), the standalone post-production credit was signed September 19, 2026, along with SB 186. The 35% base applies to editorial post-production work (picture editing, sound, and music scoring), and the statute caps visual effects spend and non-visual effects spend each at $6M without stating a rate for visual effects, which will be verified and finalized in CFC regulations.

An uplift of 5% is available if at least 50% of shoot days were in California, allowing for a top rate of 55% when combined with other uplifts (5% for post outside the LA zone, 10% for out-of-zone resident wages, 15% for qualified music scoring, capped at 15% combined). The bill's author describes $10M as 'startup funding', and each year's allocation is set in the annual Budget Act starting in fiscal year 2027/28. 

For Program 4.0, SB 186 resolves the business credit cap issue. It raises the refundable amount from 90% to 95%, paid over 2 years instead of 5 years, and starting in 2027 excludes credits sold by independent productions from the SB 122 $5M annual cap. It also extends the carryforward for 2.0 and 3.0 credits from 9 to 15 years. On October 7, the Governor announced 35 films (28 of them independent) awarded in the latest Program 4.0 round, representing $1.08B in California spend and 5,453 cast and crew jobs.

DELAWARE

HB 364 was signed on July 1, 2026, and applications for the $10M, 30% transferable credit opened on September 16, 2026. Applications are retroactive to July 1, 2026 spend.

WISCONSIN

Wisconsin's revived film credit applies to tax years 2026 and later, at 30% of resident wages (on the first $250,000 per employee), 30% of production spend, and 100% of Wisconsin sales and use tax paid. The wage and sales tax credits are transferable with Department of Revenue approval, while the production spend credit is refundable. 2025 Wisconsin Act 174 (April 2026) also made technical changes to the credit.

Proposed U.S. Incentive Legislation 

U.S. FEDERAL

The Motion Picture, Television, and Entertainment Revitalization Act was introduced September 24, 2026, as H.R. 10582 (Moran, with Sánchez, Jack, Friedman, Kustoff, Chu, Carey, and Suozzi) and S. 5552 (Scott and Schiff, now with 10 Senate sponsors from both parties). The program would create a 20% federal tax credit on U.S. labor, including above-the-line roles, for projects over $1M with at least 75% of principal photography days in the U.S. Bonuses of 5% each (rural opportunity zone or disaster area, independent producer, multistate producer, and increased domestic production) can take the credit to a maximum of 30%.

The credit is transferable and would apply to productions starting principal photography in tax years after December 31, 2026, with no sunset. Sponsors describe it as 'supplementing state credits', although the bill language itself does not address state incentives. Sponsors are aiming for final consideration before the end of 2026. An MPA commissioned study by Olsberg SPI projects $125.3B in added U.S. production spend from 2027 to 2035.

Other U.S. Incentive Updates

HAWAII

Following our July report on Act 185, the Department of Taxation has issued implementing guidance. The film credit changes apply to costs incurred after December 31, 2025, and the CPA certification (an agreed upon procedures report due within 90 days after year end) is now required by statute.

NEW YORK

Pool 1 of the New York Independent Film Production Tax Credit is now fully allocated.

Pool 2 reopened September 16, 2026, for projects with principal photography on or after August 1, 2026, pending availability of funds. Pool 2 productions must start principal photography within 180 days of the initial application. 2027 application windows have been announced as January 11 to April 29 and July 12 to November 12.

NORTH CAROLINA

The NC Film and Entertainment Grant remains funded, but Commerce has said (as reported by WHQR) to expect little to no program activity for the coming years, after legislative leaders concluded Commerce had run the program on a cash flow basis without statutory authority. The 2026 technical corrections bill (H.B. 268) added a one-time injection of $15M for FY 2026/27 to the Film and Entertainment Grant Fund, on top of the $31M recurring appropriation.

On October 6, Senate leader Berger, Speaker Hall, Sen. Michael Lee, and Rep. Ted Davis announced support for an additional one-time allocation of $31M for FY 2026/27, prioritized for productions in New Hanover and surrounding counties. It still requires a vote, expected in mid-November.

International Production Incentive Updates

Enacted International Incentive Legislation

CZECH REPUBLIC

Registration for the Czech incentive reopened September 1, 2026, as planned. Per the Fund's notice, the wait time of up to 2-years is the time between registration and confirmation of the incentive amount, which then allows the incentive application to proceed, rather than the payment itself.

IRELAND

The Visual Effects Uplift to Section 481 commenced on July 10, 2026, increasing the base tax credit rate of 32% to 40% for eligible expenditures.

QUEENSLAND

Screen Queensland cut the PDV incentive from 15% to 10% effective September 4, 2026, after the state reduced its Incentives funding.

Other International Incentive Updates

FRANCE

On September 25, the government announced an expansion of the TRIP. The updates include that non-EU actor salaries are now eligible, the extension of the scheme through 2028, and that 2026 spend will benefit through 2027 rebates.

GERMANY

Germany's 2 federal incentives, the DFFF and GMPF, are closed to new applications for 2026. Demand has hit record levels since the rate went up to 30% in 2025. €183M went to 140 projects in 2025, and by mid-August 2026 €151M had been committed to 103 projects, with another 111 projects in process. On August 11, the FFA limited intake to a final €30M with added eligibility criteria, which was exhausted in just over a week.

Applications for 2027 shoot starts are expected to open in November. The 2027 budget is around €200M, down from €250M in 2026, and is still subject to the federal budget process. Projects planning a late 2026 shoot that had not previously applied will need to apply for 2027, and the FFA will not allow for an early shoot start in 2026 ahead of approval.

Speaking at FilmFest Hamburg, the FFA's head of film funding, Jolinde Sawahn, said amended DFFF and GMPF guidelines are expected in November and would reserve up to €70M of the 2027 budget for feature film grants. It is not yet known whether the August entry criteria will carry into 2027.

Current terms are: 30% of approved German production costs, capped at €5M per project for DFFF I, €20M for GMPF series, and €5M for GMPF films. Draft 2027 guidelines published by BKM in May would restructure the funds and raise caps, with final guidelines still pending.

ITALY

Italy's July decree tightened the 2026 production credit, and the €210M allocated will now be subject to per-work and per-company ceilings. Italy’s film, TV, and streaming production spend fell 7.4% in 2025 to €2 billion, the lowest level in seven years, mainly due to uncertainty over domestic tax credits and public funding reforms.

SOUTH AFRICA

In August 2026 the DTIC launched a review of guidelines, then stated at Durban in mid-October that it had secured roughly R1.5B to fund the rebate through 2029.

Entertainment Partners keeps you informed of changing incentive legislation

EP's team of in-house incentives experts monitor legislative updates, audit precedents, and funding changes across every major production market, every month. Whether you're navigating new requirements, structuring your spend or evaluating new jurisdictions, EP provides the knowledge and expertise to maximize your incentive return.

Contact our incentives team to learn more, or head over to our production incentives tools to compare jurisdictions side by side and start planning your next production destination.