The stakes are high for the entertainment industry, which has been battered by years of work shifting to countries with lucrative tax credits.
Lawmakers introduced bipartisan legislation Thursday to create a federal tax incentive for film and television production, putting Donald Trump’s push to prop up Hollywood in front of Congress.
The stakes are high for the entertainment industry, which has been battered by years of work shifting to countries with lucrative tax credits. But the proposal could face resistance from conservatives wary of a new tax break — particularly one benefitting an industry centered in heavily Democratic California.
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The effort involves an unlikely mix of figures — Sen. Adam Schiff and Rep. Laura Friedman of California, red-state lawmakers, Trump and the president’s Hollywood ambassador, Jon Voight. South Carolina Republican Tim Scott introduced the legislation in the Senate, while Texas Republican Nathaniel Moran did so in the House.
Congress should create the credit “immediately,” the president said on social media last month, arguing that too many productions have “moved to Canada, and other Countries, with very little work being done anymore in the United States. Hollywood is a Complete and Total Disaster!” he wrote.
Schiff, who was Democrats’ point person in Trump’s first impeachment trial, told reporters during a virtual news conference on Thursday that this was one time that he was happy to see a social media post from the president.
“Not something I say often, but I really was,” Schiff added. “I’m thrilled with his support for this.”
The bill’s introduction, industry boosters say, could one day be seen as a turning point for Hollywood: the start of a push to bring work back from the far-flung constellation of countries — Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom among them — that have long drawn film and TV production away from the U.S. Lawmakers aim to pass it during Congress’ lame-duck session after the November midterms.
The bipartisan support reflects a political reality: there are several production hubs in Republican-led states, among them Georgia and Louisiana. Roughly 40 states have their own production incentives, including California, which more than doubled its program last year to $750 million annually. But the state has continued to lose shoots to other locales, and Los Angeles County lost more than 42,000 film and television jobs between 2022 and 2024.
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