California politicians, led by governor Jerry Brown, on Thursday signed into law his state’s expanded $330 million annual tax credit program, to start next year.

Bill AB 1839 more than triples California’s incentives to retain film and television production, and represents a threat to Canada’s own efforts to keep pace in the North American tax credit arms race.

The state’s new tax credit regime will run for five years.

The $330 million pot is up sharply from the $100 million in annual funding distributed (via lottery) by the current film tax credit regime in California.

The state, which is home to Hollywood, in recent decades has lost film and TV production work to rival locales with generous tax credits, including Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.

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