Economists’ conclusions about film subsidy programs are almost universally negative: it’s a race to the bottom with little economic benefits for the country where the biggest winner is Hollywood.
Consider here the state of Oklahoma. In 2023, the state was having a cinematic moment. Major productions were pouring into the region as it pumped more and more money into its rebate program. Subsidies were tempting Reservation dogs. Taylor Sheridan Tulsa King I followed him, as he did Hurricanes.
The turning point came when Martin Scorsese Moonflower Killers Rolled into the city. The production transformed a northern Oklahoma town into the Fairfax City of the 1920s, with the killings at the heart of the $200 million saga. Carpenters, decorators and landscapers, among other crew members, were hired to do the renovation. The thinking behind the financial incentives is that the state will see a big boost to its local economy by hosting big-budget films and TV shows.
But a report released Wednesday assessing the effectiveness of film subsidies in creating local jobs said only 30 percent of Oklahoma’s $100 million in annual production spending goes to in-state workers in the form of wages. Findings from workforce training operator Kalison Studios suggest that many areas touting high productive spending don’t actually generate as many jobs for their residents as the numbers suggest.
Some industry hotspots with relatively low local hiring rates compared to the amount they offer in financial incentives: Ontario (86 percent), New Mexico (82 percent), Australia (82 percent), Georgia (72 percent) and Hungary (68 percent). A few of these film centers share structural issues of rapid production growth outpacing local workforce development, film support programs that do not prioritize local hiring, and senior roles filled by more experienced workers living in other regions.
“Georgia’s rate is surprisingly low,” says Glenn Callison, founder of Callison Studios. “At the same time, it has more opportunity to improve. And they’re doing their best to address that. So I think that’s to their advantage. But there’s been a transient population moving in from Georgia and people flying in from Los Angeles.”
For many years, Georgia sold its support for photography as an investment in middle-class jobs, and marketed itself as the “Hollywood of the South.” It has been home to Marvel Studios and other pillars, e.g Suicide Squad, Doctrine III and Bad boys for life. Around this time, an auditor estimated that the state saw just 19 cents in tax revenue for every dollar it provided to the studios, which collectively received $5.2 billion from 2015 to 2022. However, Georgia stuck with the program.
But as other regions have created more attractive incentives for movies, the state has seen fewer movies and TV shows. In 2025, production spending fell to $2.3 billion across 245 productions after peaking in 2022 at $4.4 billion across 412 productions. Marvel Studios left for the United Kingdom, where workers earn lower wages and the studios don’t have to cover the cost of their health insurance. Now, sound stages and other production infrastructure sit empty and largely unused. For studios, the chase for shooting subsidies is endless.
On the other end of the spectrum, California tops the list of states that provide the most jobs to local residents through productions filmed in the state. Nearly 98 percent of the $6 billion in annual production spending goes to below-the-line crew, according to the report, which estimates that movies and TV shows generate $1.9 billion annually in crew wages. It is worth noting that many of the department heads that production companies located in other states must travel to are local residents of the state.
One important consideration is that California’s film subsidy program prioritizes in-state spending and below-the-line jobs. Jumanjiwhich was given $44 million to film in the state, hired 538 crew members, the vast majority of whom were local residents. It is expected to spend more than $161 million in wages and payments to local vendors, among other things, through filming.
The report lends credence to the position of Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers and industry advocates in Los Angeles who are demanding higher subsidies for filming in California, all of whom say the state should protect the legacy industry. Many pointed to the collapse of Detroit’s auto industry, leaving thousands without jobs. A state legislative analyst’s findings last year on fiscal incentives are more nuanced than other areas: There’s not a lot of evidence that expanding the tax credit would benefit California’s economy as a whole, but such an increase could be worthwhile to maintain the state’s share of production and job volume in the film and television industry. California accounts for the largest number of film and television filmings in the United States, more than 2.5 times the size of its second-largest competitor.
In 2021, there were more than 141,000 California workers in the film and TV recording industry who collectively earned $19.2 billion in wages, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Those numbers dropped to 121,000 workers who collectively earned $17.5 billion in 2024, the latest year for which data is available. Los Angeles County alone lost more than 15,000 entertainment jobs during that period.
“It is essential to the strength of the industry and the city to support these incentives,” said Noah Wyle, star and executive producer of the film. the houseAt a congressional hearing last month. “It’s an investment in the city’s most valuable commodity and asset. It’s an investment in its people.”
Other regions with high rates of local job creation include the United Kingdom (98 percent), New York (95 percent), and British Columbia (93 percent). All have decades of sustainable production and the infrastructure to support Hollywood.
