The first Grey’s Anatomy spinoff not to shoot in California is now heading to New Mexico. ABC and 20th Television had planned to film the untitled West Texas medical drama in Los Angeles for a midseason 2027 debut. After California rejected its tax credit application twice, the Shondaland series is in pre-production in Albuquerque and will premiere in the 2027-28 season instead.
How the decision unfolded
- Summer application: denied because the state judged the series would not create enough jobs.
- Fall reapplication: blocked after the studio was told new shows could not apply again.
- Result: prep was postponed, stage space and below-the-line talent were lost, and production moved to New Mexico.
What Shondaland told lawmakers
Betsy Beers, Shonda Rhimes’s longtime producing partner, outlined the sequence at a California Assembly hearing on Oct. 29. She said the franchise had shot in Southern California for 23 years, from Grey’s Anatomy itself to Private Practice, Scandal, Station 19 and How to Get Away with Murder. Most recently, Netflix’s The Residence received a state credit to build full White House sets in Los Angeles.
“We were denied credit due to the fact we were not providing enough jobs for the state to consider us an asset,” Beers said. “None of our past history or track record were taken into consideration.”
Beers asked lawmakers to review the criteria and increase the total pool. The program is capped at $750 million annually; Governor Gavin Newsom proposed raising it to $1 billion a year on Monday. New Los Angeles mayor Nithya Raman, elected Tuesday, has promised a film czar and a review of municipal filming costs.
The business read
For schedulers and marketers, this is more than a location story. The spinoff’s move from midseason 2027 to 2027-28 leaves a hole in ABC’s midseason slate and adds risk to a title that depends on franchise awareness. For production and media-planning teams, the lesson is simpler: an incentive award is a schedule variable. A credit rejection can force a location change, a talent reset and a delay, all after budgets and launch plans are in motion.
The franchise economics also matter. Long-running series build crew bases, and the state’s own emphasis on relocating series may have worked against a legacy producer. If the pool rises and criteria are reviewed, California could become more competitive for returning and new series alike. Until then, New Mexico’s gain is California’s first Grey’s-sized loss in more than two decades.
Source: Deadline
