Big Little Lies films briefly to preserve California tax credit
Developing story first seen 4 hours ago
“Big Little Lies” has completed a single day of filming for its third season, with recurring cast member Merrin Dungey among those on set. The shoot was intended to preserve the HBO series’ approved California tax credit, while full production is not expected to start until next year.
The Thursday shoot took place at Warner Bros. Studios Burbank’s The Ranch Lot; a full production date and Season 3 director have not been confirmed. California rules generally require filming to begin within 180 days of a Conditional Allocation Letter, or 240 days for projects with qualified budgets of at least $100 million. The new season is expected to draw on Liane Moriarty’s novel “Big Little Truths”, which advances the characters’ story by a decade.
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In short
- Season 3 filmed for one day this week.
- The shoot was intended to preserve a California tax credit.
- Full production is expected to begin next year.
How this story developed
- 2 hours ago The reported details now specify that California’s 180-day deadline to begin principal photography extends to 240 days for projects with budgets of at least $100 million; the full production start date and a Season 3 director remain unconfirmed.
- 2 hours ago Big Little Lies completed a day of filming for its third season at Warner Bros. Studios Burbank, with recurring cast member Merrin Dungey on set; the shoot was intended to preserve the show’s California tax credit ahead of full production, expected next year.
Full account
A single day of filming for the third season of HBO’s Big Little Lies took place this week at Warner Bros. Studios’ Ranch Lot in Burbank. Merrin Dungey, who plays Detective Adrienne Quinlan, was among those on set. The brief shoot is intended to preserve the series’ approved California tax credit; full production is expected to start next year, though no date has been set.
California’s incentive rules require principal photography to begin within 180 days of a project receiving its conditional allocation letter, extending to 240 days for productions with at least $100 million in qualified expenditure. The reports say the credit had been approved but that the date of approval is not known. HBO declined to comment, and neither outlet reports an official announcement from the network about the shoot.
The main cast were not involved in this day of filming, according to Deadline. The series stars Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Zoë Kravitz and Shailene Woodley, alongside Dungey and other returning cast members. Scheduling the principal actors has been a challenge, and HBO has said their busy diaries need to be aligned before production can proceed.
The first two seasons aired in 2017 and 2019 and were filmed in California. Season three is expected to draw on Liane Moriarty’s novel Big Little Truths, which advances the characters’ story by about a decade. Francesca Sloane has joined as a writer and executive producer with David E. Kelley, Kidman and Witherspoon. The reports differ in how they frame the next steps: one notes that a director for the season has not been confirmed and says this week’s director was already associated with the series and approved by the DGA; the other focuses on the effort to coordinate the stars’ schedules.
Where outlets differ
From the full account, which is AI-written from the sources:
Variety’s report identifies the one-day shoot as a measure to retain the tax credit and supplies details about the director on set, while Deadline stresses that the principal cast did not take part and that HBO is nearing agreement on schedules for a full production start next year.
The reports describe Moriarty’s book in different levels of detail: Variety calls it the expected backbone of the season’s story, while Deadline says it is thought to be the basis and summarises its ten-years-later setting.
Explained simply
Big Little Lies is an HBO drama based on Liane Moriarty’s novel about a group of women whose lives in a wealthy California community become entangled in a murder investigation. Its main cast includes Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon and other actors playing the women and their families.
The series is returning for a third season, which is expected to draw on Moriarty’s follow-up novel, Big Little Truths. That book moves the characters’ story forward by ten years, giving the new season a later point in their lives to explore.
California offers tax credits to help attract film and television productions. Projects receiving approval must generally begin principal photography within a set period, so the credit’s timing can affect when filming starts.
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Originally published by Variety as “‘Big Little Lies’ Season 3 Production Kicked Off This Week — For One Day Only (EXCLUSIVE)”.