A California Governor Candidate's Two-Part Pitch to Hollywood: Credits and Studio Repairs

Steve Hilton, the Republican contender for California governor, has rolled out a plan to revive Hollywood production that leans on two levers: increased tax credits and state-backed financing for studio repairs. He had already promised to eliminate the $750 million cap on the state's film incentive. Variety notes he is trailing Democrat Xavier Becerra in the polls.

The studio-repair money is the unusual piece. Production tax credits are usually argued as a fight over where a shoot happens; public financing for buildings treats soundstages more like infrastructure than like a subsidy attached to a particular film.