California’s improved Film & TV Tax Credit Program is working as intended – generating more production jobs and spending in the Golden State – according to a report released Friday by the California Film Commission.

The CFC, which administers the $330 million-per-year tax credit program, noted that in fiscal 2017 hours worked by below-the-line crewmembers were 15.6 percent above the same figure for 2014, the year before the more generous program, known as 2.0, began.

The third year report also noted that nearly $6 billion is expected to be spent in-state by productions that have been allocated tax credits totaling $815 million since 2015. That in-state spending figure was at $3.7 billion in last fall’s second year report.

“Today’s report shows that Program 2.0 is working over the long-term to create high-quality production jobs and increase production spending in California,” the CFC’s executive director Amy Lemisch said in a press release. “While our tax credit is far more targeted than most, it does precisely what it was designed to do by keeping us competitive and reminding the industry that California has everything needed to provide the best value.”

Production fled from its traditional home in California earlier in the century as jurisdictions such as Georgia, Canada and the United Kingdom offered producers lucrative incentives that they just couldn’t refuse. While those places still have sweeter deals than Sacramento allows, things turned around for the state when its $100 million-per-year, more restrictive and less reliable 1.0 tax incentive program was replaced by 2.0. The report notes that Southern California’s soundstages are operating near peak capacity, triggering efforts to build new facilities for filming.

Report finds state’s tax credits powering film, TV production