Human Ingenuity and Creativity Built California. We’re Not Giving It Away To Robots and Tech Billionaires.

As governor, I’ll make sure production continues in California with substantial tax credits, and a commitment to unionized labor—and I’ll never be a rubber stamp for the AI industry.

There are some movie scenes that you see and never forget.

The moment in E.T. when Elliott and his friends lift off of the ground and into the air, soaring together on their bikes above Granada Hills. The iconic rooftop chase scene at the beginning of Vertigo, filmed above Taylor Street in Nob Hill, the gloomy haze of San Francisco rising in the background. Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda tearing down Route 66 on motorcycles in the opening scene of Easy Rider as Steppenwolf plays.

This is the power of the movies. They make us feel, make us think, and transcend boundaries to bring us together. They allow us to tell our own story back to ourselves—and as our number one cultural export, they tell a story about America to the rest of the world.

For more than a century, movies have been made possible by human brains doing what human brains do best, right here in the state of California. Hollywood and the millions of workers who power our entertainment industry have made us the cultural capital of the world—and as governor, I’ll make sure it stays that way.

Here’s how I’ll do it.

I’ll Expand Film Tax Credits and Cut Red Tape to Make it Easier to Create in California.

Consider what it takes to make a movie.

Writers, actors, producers, directors, to be sure. But also production crews—grips, gaffers, production assistants. Cameras, costumers, animators. Craft services, wranglers, script supervisors, medics, location managers, propmasters, and set designers. Massive post-production teams of editors and sound engineers.

Every movie that comes out of our state is an incredible feat—an act of community, a shared labor of love, and a driver of working class livelihoods all around our state.

And that’s why I’ll work to make sure production can continue in California, with substantial tax credits and a renewed commitment to unionized labor. The expanded California Film and Television Tax Credit program is working—it helped keep local production afloat late last year—but we’ve got to do more to reverse the devastating loss of entertainment jobs in Los Angeles and around California.

And financial subsidies alone won’t be enough to get it done—we’ve got to also make it quicker and easier to film in Los Angeles. We’ve got to cut local red tape, waive arbitrary fees for small shoots, and eliminate outdated restrictions so productions aren’t forced to leave the state. That’s exactly what I’ll do. Because when the entertainment industry thrives, California thrives.

I’ll Make Sure AI Doesn’t Replace Human Creativity.

Last week, I released my policy plan around AI—and a core tenant of it is ensuring that AI does not replace human creativity. The production and appreciation of art is a fundamentally human endeavor. No machine can replace the experience, compassion, and innate creativity of the writers, actors, and crews that are the backbone of California’s entertainment industry.

My administration will never be a rubber stamp for the AI industry. That’s why I’m calling for strict workplace guardrails overseen by human workers, and ensure independent safety testing before new AI models go to market. And it’s why I’m proposing a Golden State Sovereign Wealth Fund, funded by a token tax on business AI use, in order to deliver dividends and job training to working Californians rather than just enriching billionaires.

Because the massive wealth that AI generates must belong to all Californians.

I’ll Ensure the California Entertainment Industry Continues to Lead the World – and That Everyone Shares in Its Success.

California will continue to lead the world on so many fronts if we ensure that the prosperity generated here is shared by everyone. Our entertainment industry is a great example of this concept at its best—in large part because it’s got a huge, well-paid union workforce.

Unlike some politicians who claim to support labor, I’ve spent more than 15 years locking arms with labor leadership to fight for working families, and helped fund massive national ground operations in direct partnerships with labor groups.

The entertainment industry’s union workforce is threatened by billionaire tech mergers, which deliver the worst possible product at the highest-possible price. Consolidating a large swath of the creative industry in the hands of one billionaire is bad for workers, and it’s bad for consumers. Movies will get worse, and it will become ever-easier to use AI at the expense of actors, artists, film crews, and production crews.

And already, other states and countries are seizing the moment, trying to lure away business from California through competing tax credits.

For generations, people have built their fortunes in California. But those fortunes should never come at the expense of working people. Here, in the state that built the global entertainment industry and made AI possible, we win as a team—or not at all.