Clueless Sequel, Rockford Files Reboot Among Nine Shows Winning California Tax Credits
Alicia Silverstone is heading back to Cher Horowitz's wardrobe. California's Film and Television Tax Credit Program has awarded tax credits to nine new television productions, including a Clueless sequel series and a The Rockford Files reboot, as part of its latest funding round announced on 10 August 2026 (Variety).
The nine productions will generate a combined $608 million in direct production spending across 1,014 filming days in California, according to Governor Gavin Newsom's office (Variety). Tax credits are financial incentives that let studios offset a portion of what they spend filming in-state, making California more competitive against other production hubs like Atlanta and London.
Silverstone will reprise her role as Cher in the Clueless sequel, produced by CBS Studios for Paramount+. The series received an estimated $16 million tax credit. David Boreanaz takes over the role of Jim Rockford in a Rockford Files reboot from Universal Television, which was awarded $21 million (Variety).
The slate also includes Newlyweds, a series from Universal Television created by Jamie Lee Curtis and starring Téa Leoni and Tim Daly, which received $5.8 million. Viola Davis headlines Ascent from Paramount Television Studios for Paramount+, awarded $21 million. Rounding out the round: Love Comes Softly at $7.3 million, SWAT Exiles at $16 million, an unnamed Amazon comedy at $11.6 million, and a Netflix animated series at $1.2 million (Variety).
The biggest single credit of the round went to an unnamed scripted Disney Entertainment Television series, at an estimated $45 million (Variety).
Animated series only recently became eligible for the programme. The Netflix animated title receiving $1.2 million is among the first to benefit from that rule change (Variety).
California more than doubled its annual tax credit pot, raising it from $330 million to $750 million as part of a broader tax bill (Reuters). Governor Newsom first proposed the increase in October 2024, and it was subsequently enacted. Application volume for the programme grew by 82% compared with the previous year (Variety).
The expanded programme's first year comprised 170 projects with $6.6 billion in direct production spend (Variety). Colleen Bell, director of the California Film Commission, oversees the programme, which the commission describes as its most ambitious expansion to date (film.ca.gov).
For viewers, these credits mean shows that might have shot elsewhere will be made in California. For the crews, writers, and actors who live there, it means work closer to home — at least for the projects that made the cut.
