California Begins Discussion on Unlimited Film Incentives: ‘That Is a Heavy Lift’

California lawmakers began a discussion Thursday about removing the cap on the state’s $750 million incentive for film and TV production, while acknowledging that such a move would face budget hurdles.

At an Assembly committee hearing in North Hollywood, a handful of state lawmakers heard testimony from union leaders and industry advocates who argued that the program — which was doubled last year — is not enough to stop the outflow of production jobs.

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Betsy Beers, the creative partner of Shonda Rhimes, told the committee that she had hoped to shoot a new “Grey’s Anatomy” spinoff in Santa Clarita. But the show, which is set in West Texas, did not get a California tax credit.

“We lost a lot of time, and a lot of money, and now we are filming in Albuquerque,” Beers said. “We want to be here.”

Because the state incentive is capped, projects must apply during periodic windows and then compete with other shows on a “jobs ratio” score. Beers said the show lost out initially because it didn’t get score highly enough. When ABC tried again in the fall, the program was already oversubscribed and was no longer taking applications.

“The program is…