When Marc Madnick got to the point when he wanted to sell his scriptwriting software company, Final Draft, he didn’t want to strike a deal with just anybody. After all, the Calabasas company is his legacy and he wanted it to end up in the right hands. For Madnick, that turned out to be Cast & Crew Entertainment Services, a Burbank payroll and production services firm. “Almost immediately it was love at first sight,” Madnick said of meeting with Cast & Crew Chief Executive Eric Belcher. “We share the same vision.” For Final Draft, founded 25 years ago, the company will have access to more financial resources than when it was independent and solely owned by Madnick. Cast & Crew, for its part, now has the means to do more than just payroll services. With Final Draft’s script software, it plans to expand into budgeting, scheduling and asset management. “This gives us the ability to be a major player at all points along the cycle,” Belcher said. Madnick will remain with Final Draft and there are no plans to move the company from its longtime West San Fernando Valley office. “They are good at what they do,” Belcher said. “There is no reason to mess with someone that is doing well.” Final Draft will continue to host its Big Break contest to find new talent and the annual Screenwriters Choice Awards. “They bought our brand and want to keep it going,” Madnick said. “They do not want to disrupt anything.” Dealings between the two companies began about six months ago. Madnick said it was a good time to entertain offers as Final Draft was doing well financially. Cast & Crew was developing more digital products related to the production cycle and could use scriptwriting software, which acts as a roadmap for a film or television show. The software does more than just format paragraphs into accepted Hollywood script style; it contains information on filming locations, sets and equipment needed. “There is all this data and metadata built into the script,” Belcher said. “It all starts with the script.” Cast & Crew is beta testing a digitized paperwork system for production employees to fill out for taxes and deductions as well as an electronic time card that has the union and guild pay scales built into it. Final Draft, however, was finding itself in a challenging environment of not having the resources to both innovate and maintain its software. The company had never relied on outside investment or debt and, really, Madnick said, was akin to a small mom-and-pop shop. But maintaining the software was taking up more time and energy. “We believe that with Cast & Crew we will be able to do our maintaining in addition to being able to grow with some of the new technologies,” he said. Spreading Shoots The California Film Commission announced this month the second round of tax credits going to feature film projects. The commission, based in Hollywood, received 174 applications for the $53.9 million in tax credits. Thirteen projects were chosen based on rankings of their below-the-line wages and qualified spending for vendors and equipment. Among those chosen were films being made by Warner Bros. Entertainment and Walt Disney Co., both in Burbank. The California Film and Television Tax Credit Program has $330 million to give out annually to keep productions in the state. Film Commission Executive Director Amy Lemisch noted that nearly half the projects receiving tax credits in the latest round will do some filming outside of the L.A. area and its 30-mile zone so that spending is done statewide. The 30-mile zone is a designation used to determine union wages for crew members. “One of our goals for the newly expanded tax credit program is to start bringing more production jobs and spending to regions statewide and we are beginning to see that happen with this latest allocation,” Lemisch said in a prepared statement. Janis Joplin biopic “Get It While You Can” has confirmed filming in San Francisco and “Save the Cat” will shoot in the central part of the state. An additional four films have indicated tentative plans to film outside the zone. The next round of tax credits will go toward relocating television series, recurring television series, new series and pilots that have been picked up, movies of the week and television miniseries. Production receiving the credits will be announced in mid-March. Staff Reporter Mark R. Madler can be reached at (818) 316-3126 or [email protected].