On Tuesday, Governor Kathy Hochul unveiled her proposed FY 2026 New York State Budget, laying out a blueprint for New York’s short and long-term future.
As Governor Hochul asserted in her State of the State, she is committed to uplifting the lives of New Yorkers through social and economic initiatives that strengthen New York’s workforce and keep our economy vibrant and strong.
As an important part of that agenda, the Governor has proposed a number of legislative changes designed to bolster the success and increase the stability and competitiveness of New York’s film/tv and theater programs that will help keep these well-paying jobs in New York State. These changes are covered in the Revenue Section of the budget proposal.
Here are some highlights of what the Governor has proposed:
NYS Film Production and Post-Production Tax Credit Programs
- Create first-in-the-nation “Production +“ program incentivizing recurring business and multiple productions
- In another first, create the “Empire State Independent Production Program” with an additional $100 million in credits targeted for independent productions with an accelerated payout schedule
- Extend the original program by 2 years, from 2034 through 2036
- Remove the multi-year payout tiers for new applicants
- Remove the individual cap on the Above-the-Line eligibility while maintaining the guardrail to not exceed 40% of all other costs
- Add flexibility to the post-production incentive by enabling productions to either reach a threshold of 75% of the total qualified post-production costs or spend $1M in qualified costs. Further, the spend thresholds for both VFX and animation will be reduced from 20% to 10% and the spend thresholds will be lowered to $500K. Lastly, Above-the-Line eligibility has been added to the Post-Production program to make it consistent with the Above-the-Line eligibility for the Post jobs in the Production program
- Introduce a formal definition for loan out companies and mandate a 6.85% withholding requirement on payments made to these entities
- Explore using the regulatory process to allow independent productions to file for a credit after completion of principal photography
Musical and Theatrical Production Tax Credit Programs
- Extend the NYC Musical and Theatrical Tax Credit program by 2 years through 2027 and provide an additional $100M in funding
- Extend the upstate/Empire State Musical and Theatrical Tax Credit program by 4 years until Jan 1, 2030
These innovative proposals send a clear message that Governor Hochul is committed to keeping New York competitive while supporting and growing the film and television industry New York State for years to come.
As part of the executive budget proposal, these potential changes will now go the legislature.