‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Spinoff Pushed To 2027-28, Moves Production To New Mexico After Failing To Get CA Tax Credit As Betsy Beers Calls For Program Change

The Grey’s Anatomy franchise is leaving California for the first time in its 23-year history. ABC’s upcoming spinoff set in West Texas will film in Albuquerque, New Mexico after its application for a California tax credit was rejected twice. Following the delay as ABC and producing studio 20th Television were navigating the tax incentive system, waiting for a positive resolution, the Shondaland series, created by Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes and the series’ current showrunner Meg Marinis, will no longer premiere in midseason 2027 as originally announced. It has been pushed to the 2027-28 season.

Rhimes’ longtime producing partner at Shondaland, Betsy Beers, who executive produces all of the company’s series, testified at an Assembly Committee hearing in North Hollywood last week on the limitations and unpredictability of the state’s film and television tax credit system, asking for a review of the criteria currently used to award credits and for an increase of the total money pool available.

Beers spoke about Shondaland’s long history in California where most of the company’s series have been shot, the Seattle-set Grey’s Anatomy and its previous spinoffs, Private Practice and Station 19, as well as two series set in Washington DC, ABC’s Scandal and Netflix’s The Residence, the Philadelphia-set ABC drama How To Get Away With Murder and the network’s The Catch. (The Residence, which ran for one season, did get a California tax credit.)

“So when our great partners at ABC applied for the new tax credits this past summer for our new Grey’s Anatomy spinoff set in West Texas, we assumed there’s a long history of loyalty to the state, fighting to stay here when there were no credits to be had, and the fact the odds were — as they had been with every single show that Shonda has created or co-created — there would be at least six seasons for a wonderful crew and staff to keep working and to sleep in their beds at night,” Beers said, adding. “It was also crucial since the co-creator and showrunner is also running Grey’s, and the geographical proximity was key to her ability to doing the job.

“How wrong we were! We were denied credit due to the fact we were not providing enough jobs for the state to consider us an asset. None of our past history or track record were taken into consideration,” Beers said.”

“Undaunted” by the setback, ABC and the studio decided to apply again in the fall, which led to postponing prep, locking down stage space and losing below-the-line talent.

“And then we were told, regardless of earlier messaging, there would be no chance to apply if you were a new show; returning, sure, not a new show,” Beers said. “We lost personnel, we lost a lot of time, and we lost money trying to find a way to stay where we have always been. Now we are filming in Albuquerque, where they have been wonderful to work with, but we want to be here.”

The spinoff, executive produced by Rhimes, Beers, Marinis and Ellen Pompeo, is currently in pre-production in Albuquerque. It is described as an edgy drama about a team at a rural West Texas medical center — the last chance for care before miles of nowhere.

In her speech, which you can read in full below, Beers noted that she had fought for tax credits, lobbying politicians in Sacramento.

“And more ironically, a few years ago, I was awarded the California Golden State Award for keeping jobs in L.A.; I don’t even know what to say about that,” she said. “I’m here to say, please, please look at metrics and factors when deciding who gets credit, and please increase what’s available. If it all boils down to numbers, all you are going to have is movies coming in and out of here, and the advantages we have discovered with long-running shows will be gone.”

Currently capped at $750 million annually, California’s Film & TV Tax Credit program has for over a decade put an emphasis on relocating series as a way of boosting production in Hollywood.

Beers made her remarks on Oct. 29, ahead of two new developments this week.

On Monday, outgoing California Governor Gavin Newsom proposed raising the program to $1 billion a year. And on Tuesday, Los Angeles elected Nithya Raman as new mayor. She has promised to make the entertainment industry a top priority once she takes over in City Hall with a Film Czar in Mayor’s office and a review of municipal filming costs and polices. Raman, who is married to TV producer/writer Vali Chandrasekaran, also pledged during the campaign to be a “relentless advocate” for uncapping tax credit program as a further move to get production back to California and L.A.

Here is Beers’ full speech:

I’ve been the producing partner Shonda Rhimes for over 20 years, which we before there was a Shondaland, there was just the two of us sitting in a room, basically. During the period of time, we’ve made, I believe, 13 series, the majority of which we filmed right here in Southern California.

So I’m here today to talk about the subject, about which I feel passionately, which is the California tax credits and how those tax credits are determined.

For background, when we started filming the first season of Grey’s Anatomy in 2004, it didn’t occur to us or anybody else at ABC to go somewhere else. The crew, the infrastructure, the facilities were unparalleled in the world.

We created the world of Seattle Grace here. From that point on, as more states and locations started to provide better incentives, Shonda and I continued to fight to film locally. Private Practice we set in L.A., so we didn’t move it. Scandal we figured out a way to double L.A. for Washington seamlessly, and How to Get Away with Murder doubled for Philadelphia.

Over this period of time, we developed a deep bench of the best below-the-line talent around. We followed up with The Catch, For the People and Station 19, all filming here. And finally, a few years ago, we built the entire White House, and I mean really the entire White House [for The Residence], on our lot in L.A. for Netflix, which we were able to achieve thanks to that credit that the state provided.

So recently, when our great partners at ABC applied for the new tax credits this past summer for our new Grey’s Anatomy spinoff set in West Texas, we assumed there was a long history of loyalty to the state, fighting to stay here when there were no credits to be had, and the fact the odds were — as they had been with every single show that Shonda has created or co-created — there would be at least six seasons for a wonderful crew and staff to keep working and to sleep in their beds at night. It was also crucial since the co-creator and showrunner is also running Grey’s, and the geographical proximity was key to her ability to doing the job.

How wrong we were!

We were denied credit due to the fact we were not providing enough jobs for the state to consider us an asset. None of our past history or track record were taken into consideration.

Undaunted, our wonderful partners at ABC agreed that it would make more sense for us to apply again in the fall. In order to do that, we had to postpone prep, locking down stage space, losing below-the-line talent, et cetera, et cetera. But we all deemed it necessary, and we’re working on ways to legitimately build up the number of employees. And then we were told, regardless of earlier messaging, there would be no chance to apply if you were a new show. Returning, sure, not a new show.

We lost personnel, we lost a lot of time, and we lost money trying to find a way to stay where we have always been. Now we are filming in Albuquerque, where they have been wonderful to work with, but we want to be here.

We’ve always been here, and look, there’s an irony here too. I personally fought for the tax credits when I went up to Sacramento and streamed The Residence and talked about to all those people what did it mean to stay in my home state?

I, with Jason George, I hosted you and a number of people on the set of Grey’s Anatomy, so they could see how the longest-running prime-time medical show has been able to lift up and promote from within. The woman who is now running Grey’s Anatomy and is going to be the co-creator of our spinoff was a runner. She was assistant runner, Season 2, and she’s now running the show.

For another example, my ex-assistant has worked through the years and is running Bridgerton.
That’s the way you continue to increase talent.

And more ironically, a few years ago, I was awarded the California Golden State Award for keeping jobs in LA. I don’t even know what to say about that.

I’m here to say, please, please look at metrics and factors when deciding who gets credit, and please increase what’s available. If it all boils down to numbers, all you are going to have is movies coming in and out of here, and the advantages we have discovered with long-running shows will be gone.