(a) There is in the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, the California Film Commission. The commission shall have a Board of Commissioners consisting of 27 members. The Governor shall appoint 14 members, the Senate Committee on Rules shall appoint four members, the Speaker of the Assembly shall appoint four members, and five members shall be ex officio. The members of the board appointed by the Governor may include representatives of state and local government, motion picture development companies, employee and professional organizations composed of persons employed in the motion picture industry, and other appropriate members of this or related industries.

All members of the board, except legislators who are appointed either by the Senate Committee on Rules or by the Speaker of the Assembly, shall serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority for a term of two years from the effective date of the appointment.

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

(b) (1) One of the members appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules shall, and another one may, be a Senator and one of the members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly shall, and another one may, be a Member of the Assembly. These persons shall be appointed for terms of four years.

(2)  Of the legislators appointed to the board, no more than three legislators from the same political party may be appointed to or serve on the board at the same time.

(c) Any legislator appointed shall serve as a voting member of the board and shall meet with, and participate in the activities of, the board to the extent that participation is not incompatible with the legislator’s position as a Member of the Legislature, but shall only serve in that capacity while concurrently serving as a Member of the Legislature. Whenever a legislator vacates an office, the appointing power shall appoint another person for a new full term.

(d) Nine of the 14 members appointed by the Governor shall be as follows:

(1) One shall be a member or employee of a union or guild of motion picture artists.

(2) One shall be a member or employee of a union or guild representing motion picture craftsmen, technicians, or photographers.

(3) Two shall be from major motion picture studios.

(4) One shall be a member of the city council or a member of the county board of supervisors of a city or a county with a population of at least two million people.

(5) One shall be a member of the city council or a member of the county board of supervisors of a city or a county with a population of less than two million people.

(6) (A) One shall be an independent filmmaker.

(B) For purposes of this section, “independent filmmaker” means a producer of a film that meets all of the following criteria:

(i) Has a running time of at least 75 minutes.

(ii) Is intended for commercial distribution to a motion picture theater, directly to the home video market, directly to television, or through the Internet.

(iii) Is produced by a company that is not publicly traded and publicly traded companies do not own, directly or indirectly, more than 25 percent of the producing company.

(7) One shall be a diversity, equity, and inclusion expert employed in the motion picture industry.

(8) (A) One shall be a member who is an independent commercial producer, or employee of a trade association representing independent commercial producers.

(B) For purposes of this section, “independent commercial producer” means a producer who owns or is employed by a company that is principally engaged in the physical or digital production of advertising content for advertisers, has control over the selection of production location, deployment, or management of the production equipment, and directly employs the production crew as the person that has control over the hiring and firing of the crew for a commercial production. The company shall not be wholly or partly owned or operated by an advertising agency or an advertiser or be publicly traded. The company shall also not produce any production to which the recordkeeping requirements of Section 2257 of Title 18 of the United States Code apply.

(e) The Director of Transportation shall serve as an ex officio nonvoting member.

(f) The Director of Parks and Recreation shall serve as an ex officio nonvoting member.

(g) The Commissioner of the California Highway Patrol shall serve as an ex officio nonvoting member.

(h) The State Fire Marshal shall serve as an ex officio nonvoting member.

(i) The director of the commission shall serve as an ex officio nonvoting member.

(Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 56, Sec. 2. (SB 132) Effective July 10, 2023.)