“Tax credits” are one of the least sexy, but probably most important, issues affecting TV and film production right now; as Hollywood tears out its hair (and makes sweeping cuts to staff and cast lists) trying to keep budgets low, numerous states, and even countries, have been wafting big stacks of cash at productions, trying to lure them out of California and into their own nascent filmmaking scenes. All of which, in extremely roundabout fashion, explains why HBO’s Big Little Lies started production on its long-delayed return to TV this week… for exactly one day, before shutting things back down until 2027.
This is per Variety, which reports (from an unnamed source) that Big Little Lies was engaging in a bit of Big Little Loophole Abuse, filming a single day on the series in order to maintain its already-approved California state tax credit, which requires that a production begin within a certain number of calendar days (180 or 240, depending on the project’s budget) of getting its Conditional Allocation Letter from the state. All of which apparently means that Merrin Dungey, who plays recurring character Detective Quinlan on the series—and who, while a prolific performer, is also not working at what we might think of as “Meryl Streep” levels of “Oh shit, we gotta get something filmed today” unavailability—was called out to one of Warner Bros.’ studio lots to film exactly one day’s worth of the show, before the whole thing got mothballed again until next year.
Production weirdness is, of course, nothing new for Big Little Lies, the show that helped establish the now-familiar “This is a limited series unless people like it too much” move, beloved of studios who realize too late they’ve got a hit on their hands. HBO head Casey Bloys had previously said that a third season of the series was “not realistic,” mostly due to the careers and schedules of stars Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern, Meryl Streep, and other members of the show’s ridiculously star-stuffed cast. Said realism was reevaluated last September, though, when the network confirmed that the series was gearing up for a return, as author Liane Moriarty reportedly raced to get a third novel in this unexpected franchise done.
California’s tax credit program has been headline-making news of late; Governor Gavin Newsom really doesn’t want any of the major studios spending less time in the state (something that also influenced the resolution of the fight between merger-hungry Paramount and the state’s attorney general a few weeks back), and signed a bill last year that doubled the state’s allocation for the credits, from $330 million to a hefty $750 million.
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