The 21st Century has witnessed the explosion of production incentives for audiovisual media – tax credits, cash rebates and other inducements – to lure motion pictures and television series to production centers around the world. Incentivized locations have evolved from a handful in North America to local, regional and federal programs on six continents. That process created competition, prompting various governments to increase the value of enticements to attract and/or retain productions in a never-ending race. California, for example, launched a program in 2009 that budgeted $100 million per year to stem the flow of “run-away” productions from that state that now stands at $750 million a year. That program focuses on below-the-line expenses, such as wages for local technical personnel, but many now include above-the-line costs, including actor salaries, with the French program for foreign productions adding those costs in 2026. Such programs, moreover, do not function in isolation, with various governments imposing content quotas and other policies that impact on where content is produced, with the European Union mandate that libraries of streaming services include 30% European works one example. This study documents the shifts in production incentives around the world and measures the use of such inducements by major global streaming services, including Netflix and Amazon Prime, for original, fictional, live-action, English-language television series since the first Netflix original launched in 2012. The findings show that streaming services receive production incentives for the vast majority of their originals and favor certain locations, oftentimes addressing other mandates.

Authors:
William Kunz, University of Washington Tacoma, United States

About the Presenter(s)
Professor William Kunz is a University Professor/Principle Lecturer at University of Washington Tacoma in United States

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