CBS’s ‘Tracker’ lured to LA by $48M California tax credit incentive as Hollywood seeks production comeback

One of television’s biggest hits is officially calling the Golden State home.

CBS’s “Tracker,” the Justin Hartley-led drama that has dominated ratings since its 2024 debut, is relocating production from Vancouver to Los Angeles for Season 4 — and it’s doing so with the largest California tax credit ever awarded to a TV series: $48 million.

The move, finalized recently but long in the works, marks a major win for California’s beleaguered film and television industry, which has for years battled diminishing production. The studio behind the series, 20th Television, is currently locking down production facilities in and around LA, with filming set to begin in late June.

Hartley, who stars as lone-wolf survivalist Colter Shaw and also serves as one of the show’s co-executive producers, expressed excitement about the shift.

“I’m proud of what we built in Vancouver. I’m also very excited we’re bringing ‘Tracker’ to LA,” Hartley said, according to Deadline. “I’m looking forward to continuing to tell these stories alongside the new, fresh places we’ll be heading to next.”

The series, based on Jeffery Deaver’s bestselling novel “The Never Game,” follows Shaw as he travels the country in an RV tracking missing persons and solving crimes for reward money.

Its remote, wilderness-heavy storytelling lends itself to filming outside the Greater Los Angeles 30-mile zone — qualifying it for an extra 5% bonus on top of the base 35% credit under California’s incentive program.

Showrunner and executive producer Elwood Reid told Deadline of the benefits of the move while showing appreciation to Vancouver’s crew.

“Location is a huge part of the storytelling on ‘Tracker,’” Reid told the outlet. “We’re so grateful to the crew and people of Vancouver who made the first three seasons of this hit drama possible, and are simultaneously thrilled to be able to kick off the fourth season of ‘Tracker’ by filming in Los Angeles, thanks to the tax incentive program that supports bringing production back to California.”

The $48 million credit tops previous big awards, including the $42 million given to Season 3 of Amazon’s “Fallout” and the $42.8 million for another 20th Television project, the upcoming NFL drama “The Land.”

For Los Angeles film and TV crews still feeling the effects of industry slowdowns that seemed to start during Covid shutdowns, the relocation means jobs, local spending, and a boost to businesses that support film and TV production.

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