Jennifer Garner may be leading audiences away from home in The Five-Star Weekend, but when it comes to her own work, the actress is making a clear case for staying close to Hollywood.
The Golden Globe winner recently spoke about why filming in Los Angeles remains a priority for her whenever it is possible. Her comments arrive at a time when California lawmakers are weighing major changes to the state’s film and TV tax credit program, a hot-button issue for studios, crews, actors, and below-the-line workers trying to keep production jobs from moving elsewhere.
Jennifer Garner on filming in Los Angeles
Garner said it has been “so important” to her to work in Los Angeles “as much as possible,” pointing to the city’s role as the longtime center of the entertainment industry. For performers with families, crew members with roots in Southern California, and local businesses that depend on production spending, a Los Angeles shoot can mean far more than convenience.
Her message lands at a moment when Hollywood is still recovering from a difficult few years, including pandemic shutdowns, labor strikes, rising production costs, and a noticeable shift of film and TV jobs to states and countries with more aggressive tax incentives.
Why California film tax credits are back in the spotlight
California’s film and television tax incentive program has long been designed to compete with production hubs such as Georgia, New York, New Mexico, the United Kingdom, and Canada. The current debate centers on whether the state should uncap or significantly expand those incentives to encourage more productions to shoot in Los Angeles and across California.
Supporters argue that keeping productions local protects thousands of jobs, from camera operators and set decorators to drivers, caterers, editors, and visual effects workers. It also keeps money flowing into hotels, restaurants, equipment rental houses, and neighborhood businesses.
Critics, however, often question whether large tax incentives for Hollywood studios deliver enough public benefit. That tension has made the issue one of the most closely watched policy conversations in the entertainment business.
The Five-Star Weekend and Jennifer Garner’s latest TV role
Garner’s upcoming project The Five-Star Weekend is based on Elin Hilderbrand’s bestselling novel and follows a woman who gathers friends from different stages of her life for a weekend that promises escape, nostalgia, and emotional complications. The story may involve a getaway, but Garner’s broader point is rooted firmly in Los Angeles: production location matters.
For viewers, where a show films might seem like behind-the-scenes trivia. For the people making it, location can determine whether they get to sleep in their own beds, see their children after work, and keep long-term careers sustainable without constantly chasing productions across the map.
Where to watch The Five-Star Weekend
The Five-Star Weekend is expected to stream on Peacock in the United States. A premiere date has not been officially announced yet. Peacock is available in the US; in the UK and parts of the EU, Peacock is not broadly offered as a standalone service in the same way, so availability may vary by local distributor or platform once release plans are confirmed.
Garner’s comments add a recognizable voice to a much larger Hollywood conversation: if Los Angeles wants to remain the heart of film and television production, keeping more work in the city may be just as important as the stories being told on screen.
Tags: #JenniferGarner #TheFiveStarWeekend #Peacock #HollywoodNews #FilmTaxCredits
About the Author
