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A delegation of California Democrats campaigned with union leaders on Tuesday for a federal film incentive as they seek to build momentum to pass the measure by the end of the year.
Sen. Adam Schiff and eight Democratic
representatives from Southern California argued that the U.S. must counter incentives from 65 other countries that have lured American production jobs overseas.
“We are so close to getting this done,” Schiff said in 100-degree heat outside the Alex Theatre in Glendale. “Whatever we can do to get this done, that is job No. 1. It just can’t wait. It’s too important. The losses so far have been too extraordinary.”
Lawmakers introduced a bill last month that would create a 20%-30% transferable tax credit for U.S. labor costs on films and TV shows. Schiff said that 12 senators are on board — six Democrats and six Republicans. The latest to join as cosponsors are Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Chris Coons, D-Del., according to Schiff’s office.
They will have about five weeks during the lame-duck session of Congress after the election to try to pass the bill. Rep. Laura Friedman, whose office organized Tuesday’s press conference, said she is “cautiously, guardedly optimistic.”
“We need to have this on the president’s desk by mid-December, as far as I’m concerned,” she said in an interview, adding that she hopes the bill will pass in essentially its current form as part of a larger tax package. “This has been almost two years of constant work. It hasn’t just come together in the last few weeks. It’s been a snowball effect. It started out as this idea, and then we just kept building and building and building. So I feel like we have a great momentum.”
The proposal includes a 5% bonus for filming in a disaster area, which would apply to the entirety of Los Angeles County until January 2030, due to last year’s fires. There are also bonuses for independent films and for filming in rural opportunity zones. The total tax credit could rise to 50% or more when combined with state incentives in places like California and New York — easily surpassing the incentives offered by other countries.
“It is fair to say that these other countries they recognize the quality of these jobs — that’s why they put these measures in place,” said Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the executive director of SAG-AFTRA. “That’s why they are eating not only our lunch, but our breakfast and our dinner as well. And we have to change that. This is our opportunity to do it.”
A coalition of industry unions published a report on Monday documenting the erosion of U.S. production as a share of global spending over the past 25 years. According to the report, the U.S. share fell from 74% to 42% in film and from 94% to 64% in television, though both industries have also grown considerably over that time period.
In August, President Donald Trump called on Congress to “immediately” pass an incentive and pronouncing that “Hollywood is a Complete and Total Disaster!”
The Motion Picture Association, representing the studios, has sought to emphasize that the bill would benefit not only California and New York, but all 50 states. The MPA has also been more cautious about the timing, saying that while it’s important to move quickly, it’s also important to “get this right.”
But union leaders said Tuesday that their members can’t afford to wait.
“When this passes in this lame-duck session, it will immediately impact production in 2027,” said Mike Miller, vice president of IATSE. “And there are hundreds of thousands of entertainment industry workers that are counting on it.”
