Justin Hartley addressed why Tracker had to go through a change for season 4.
“I think it’s important,” Hartley, 49, said on the Thursday, July 16, episode of the “I Am an Actor” podcast when asked about moving the show’s production from Vancouver to Los Angeles.
Hartley gave credit to Vancouver for helping set the show up.
“We established this really great show in Vancouver. We had three years — a really great three-year run,” he noted. “We have this road show that we have to take on the road. [The] story of our show is [that] our guy goes from city to city around the country — in the United States of America — and he finds missing people.”
He continued: “It’s really uplifting. It’s really fulfilling and people feel good when they watch it. At the end, there’s always this heartfelt [aspect].”
After filming three seasons in Vancouver, news broke in May that Tracker was awarded $48 million on $129 million in qualified expenditures, prompting its move.
Tracker is 20th Television’s biggest series to be brought back to California with the help of a tax credit. Before that, Prime Video’s Fallout moved from New York to Los Angeles, while Dan Fogelman’s upcoming NFL drama, The Land, was given a $42.8 million tax credit.
“It’s important. We got to keep the show fresh and all that kind of stuff. So it’s the nature of the show,” Hartley noted on Thursday. “But we have established a really good thing. … I’m glad that worked out.”
Tax credits for relocation are being awarded to shows for their projected outsized economic effect, with jobs being created for Los Angeles-based crews and local businesses being boosted by returning production.
TV shows can earn an additional 5 percent tax credit bonus — on top of the 35 percent base credit — for qualified expenditures incurred outside the 30-mile zone that covers the Greater Los Angeles area and surrounding communities, according to Deadline.
“Location is a huge part of the storytelling on Tracker,” showrunner Elwood Reid told Deadline. “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.”
Tracker has been renewed for season 4 and is streaming on Paramount+.
