Hollywood editors are hurting. Can a new tax credit change things?

The work film editors do is as old as Hollywood.

The best editors take the many scenes filmed by a production crew and seamlessly create one work.

“You don't see what I do and if you do, I'm not doing my job right,” said Ryan Westphal, a visual effects editor, who worked on the TV series "Loki " and the film "Ferrari."

For Westphal, the best of times as an editor appear to be in the rearview mirror.

“I've had a good run from about 2018 to about 2023," he said. "For some people, the really busy time was about 2021 to 2023… the gold rush years for streaming content.”

It was good enough that he was lining up his finances to buy a house in Los Angeles. Not anymore.

“I feel like I'm on borrowed time. If things don't get back to some version of what it once was, I [will] need to leave L.A., and I need to change careers,” he said.

Westphal is one of thousands of people who’ve done post-production work — like editing and sound design — who are now feeling the contraction of opportunities in Hollywood. Some who are more visible, like actors and directors, have already felt that squeeze.

He and many others are waiting eagerly to see what Gov. Gavin Newsom does with a state bill meant to help these post production workers.

Assembly Bill 2319 is also known as the California Post-Production Tax Credit. It made it through both legislative chambers in Sacramento and was sent to the governor’s desk on Sept. 2.

The bill

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office has not said whether he plans to sign or veto the bill.

“I think it's a smart bill. I believe passing the bill [is] a way to keep television producers happy and here in Los Angeles,” said Juan Garza, an editor who’s worked on TV series such as "Doubt " and "Queen of the South."

California has already created tax credits as incentives for TV and film productions that do most filming and post production in the state. But this bill is different.

It would create new credits for projects that keep post-production work like editing and sound design in the state, even if they were filmed elsewhere or didn’t benefit from existing production tax credits.

For Garza, there’s a silver lining to the production slowdown. He’s also a filmmaker and has used the down time to take on several independent projects.

The Motion Picture Editors Guild represents Garza and about 8,000 other freelance and staff post-production professionals across the U.S. The union is urging Newsom to sign the bill.

Will a tax credit do enough?

But even to union members, it’s unclear if this bill will bring back the good years.

“I  think it's really a drop in the bucket of what's needed,” said Westphal, who has taken on part-time work as a security guard to make ends meet.

He said some more experienced editors have had to go to Europe to keep working. And some post-production work, like filming, has gone to other states as legislators elsewhere have attracted production out of California.

“It's a good start, but to really compete against the other states [and] the other countries, a lot more is needed,” he said.