Amazon’s pricey spy drama ‘Citadel’ to get $25-million California tax credit

Amazon Studios’ big-budget spy thriller “Citadel” is set to become the highest-spending TV production to relocate to California in the history of the state’s film and TV tax incentive program, as the technology behemoth shifts production from Britain for the show’s second season.

The series is one of seven shows — two relocating series and five new series — that qualified for the latest round of film and television tax credits from the state. Spending by these productions is expected to total an estimated $527 million in the region, the California Film Commission said Monday.

Amazon will get a $25-million tax credit in exchange for moving its show to the state, where it is projected to spend an estimated $119 million in qualified expenditures, the commission said.

“Citadel,” which stars Priyanka Chopra Jonas, is the biggest of a total of 33 TV series that have relocated from other states and countries since the expanded tax credit program was launched in 2015. The incentive plan is part of an effort to stop productions from fleeing the state in search of lucrative tax incentives elsewhere.

“We’re thrilled that our tax credit program is welcoming such a diverse range of TV projects in terms of storytelling, budget and employment,” said California Film Commission Executive Director Colleen Bell in a statement.

Paramount Global’s BET drama “True to the Game” is among the new shows that were also accepted into the tax credit program. The show’s producers are planning to spend $11 million in qualified expenditures in the state during its first season.

Netflix’s “Forever” will receive a $12-million credit and Walt Disney Co.‘s 20th Century Studios will get $12 million for its new show “Paradise City.”

Amazon Studios will garner another $10-million tax credit for a new untitled series that will film in the state. Paramount Global is receiving $14 million for a new untitled series.

Besides “Citadel,” another relocating TV series is HBO’s second season of “Wondermill,” which is relocating to California from Oregon and will receive $4 million from the state in the form of a tax credit.

The state spends $330 million per year to tempt Hollywood productions, one of its signature economic engines, from filming in other regions. Under the program, producers can recover 20% to 25% of their spending on qualified costs, such as money spent building sets and hiring crews, and can then use the credits to offset state taxes.

California missed out on nearly $8 billion in economic activity as a result of so-called runaway production, according to a 2022 estimate from the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. for the Motion Picture Assn.