Motion Picture Association (MPA) and California Democratic senator Adam Schiff have backed a call by president Donald Trump urging bipartisan support for a federal production incentive.
Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Monday that following a discussion with his special Hollywood ambassador Jon Voight, efforts were underway to fast-track a nationwide apparatus to support US film production.
The president posted, “Hollywood is a Complete and Total Disaster! Despite the name, it is getting very little work. There is no incentive to be there, and it is hurting California very badly.” Trump added that the amount of money spent on tax incentives would be “made up tenfold by the money pouring into the Treasury’s coffers”. Screen had not verified that claim at time of writing.
Trump added, ”Meetings are being set up with the Leaders of both Parties in order to get this done. It should be Bipartisan, especially since so much money is being lost in California, and other largely Blue States […] It can be done quickly, accurately, efficiently and, importantly, will benefit ALL of America.”
MPA chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin praised Trump’s post, saying: “A federal incentive would be a landmark step toward bringing more production to local communities in all 50 states, strengthening our nation’s economy, and making our country a more competitive place to produce, create, and tell great stories.”
“I am in strong agreement with the President”
Meanwhile Schiff, a longtime advocate for a federal incentive, posted on X: ”I am in strong agreement with the President. Congress should immediately take up and pass a federal film tax incentive to bring back these good-paying jobs that we’ve lost to other countries. Let’s work together — Republicans and Democrats — to get this done, and bring the movie magic back to America.”
The sight of Schiff and Trump backing the same cause is unusual. The Democrat most likely does not enjoy high standing in the president’s estimation after he served as lead manager of Trump’s first impeachment in 2019. Schiff also clashed with Trump’s pick for FBI director Kash Patel during a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing into the Jeffrey Epstein files last autumn.
Outgoing California Governor Gavin Newsom has been in favour of more robust production incentives and last year he doubled the state’s tax credit annual allocation. Representative Laura Friedman is an advocate, and there is a groundswell of support from gubernatorial candidates Xavier Becerra for the Democrats and Steve Hilton on the Republican side.
A federal incentive to stem the exodus of shoots to attractive international jurisdictions like the UK, Australia and Eastern Europe could become a meaningful pro-jobs card for the Trump administration heading into November’s mid-term elections. However it remains to be seen how rapidly the support of the president could help the issue muscle its way through Congress’s legislative agenda.
Voight, whose screen roles include Deliverance, Coming Home, and Runaway Train, has previously advocated for a national production incentive.
According to FilmLA, feature production in the second quarter declined by 12.7% year-on-year to 4,711 shoot days. A separate economic impact study published in mid-August found that were the $111bn Paramount-Warner Bros Discovery merger to close, the transaction could result in the loss of 4,500 film and TV jobs in Los Angeles County over the three years it would take the companies to combine operations.
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