June 16, 2016
Since 2014, the DGA has worked closely with the Writers Guild of America East to introduce and support a first-of-its-kind bill in New York which encourages diverse hiring and addresses the industry’s broken pipeline. The bipartisan bill modifies the $420 million Empire State Film Production Tax Credit to allocate $5 million – capped at $50,000 per hire – for television productions that hire directors and writers that are women and people of color.
We applaud the New York State Assembly’s recent passage of this significant legislation, and we’re hopeful that it will be approved by the New York State Senate and signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo. New York has taken a leadership position in production incentives, and we look to the state to take a leading position on diversity.