A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pushing a new federal tax incentive package aimed at keeping film, television, and streaming productions on American soil, as foreign governments continue to lure Hollywood projects abroad with increasingly generous subsidies. The proposal, which would create a base 20% federal credit on labor costs with potential bonuses raising the maximum to 30%, was crafted in cooperation with Hollywood unions and the Motion Picture Association, according to reporting by Variety.
The legislation comes as the U.S. entertainment industry has hemorrhaged jobs in recent years. The film and sound recording sector lost another 3,600 jobs in June alone, and at least 17,000 positions disappeared across the industry in 2025. Since 2016, the entertainment industry has shed roughly 100,000 jobs, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics cited in the reporting.
A Competitive Edge Abroad
The proposed federal credits are designed to stack on top of the numerous state-level incentives already available for film, TV, and streaming productions. If enacted, the combined benefit could make domestic shooting locations dramatically more attractive to studios weighing their options.
“If it passes and it stacks clean, shooting in Georgia or California or New York is the best deal on the planet. Nothing overseas comes close,” Joe Chianese, senior vice president for incentives at Entertainment Partners, told Variety.
The pushback against overseas production has been building for years, as countries like the U.K., Canada, and 63 other nations have dangled increasingly rich subsidies before entertainment companies. The new bill represents an attempt to undercut those foreign incentives and reverse the flow of productions leaving the United States.
Lawmakers Frame It as a Worker Issue
Supporters of the legislation are careful to frame it not as a bailout for Hollywood studios but as a lifeline for the American workers who depend on production jobs.
“If we want to keep American storytelling in America, we have to level the playing field, and that’s exactly what this bill does,” said Rep. Nathaniel Moran, R-Texas. “This isn’t about subsidizing Hollywood — it’s about supporting the American worker, one story and one production at a time.”
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., echoed that sentiment, warning that the exodus of production work carries consequences beyond the entertainment industry itself.
“We cannot stand by as more and more American film production moves overseas, taking jobs, investment, and an important source of American cultural influence with it,” Scott said. “This legislation will create jobs in communities across America, support local economies, and help ensure that the next generation of iconic American films is made right here in America.”
California Sen. Adam Schiff, a Democrat, also emphasized the urgency of the moment, pointing to what he described as a rare opening for legislative action.
“Now, we have the best opportunity in decades to get it done,” Schiff said.
How the Credits Would Work
Under the proposal as outlined by Variety, the 20% base credit would apply to all labor costs, covering both below-the-line workers such as crew members and technicians, and above-the-line personnel including directors, producers, and actors. A series of so-called uplifts would add 5% bonuses for filming in rural areas or for independent productions, bringing the potential maximum to 30% of labor costs.
Los Angeles County would also qualify for a 5% bonus for the next five years, under a provision that treats the region as a federal disaster area — a designation that reflects the severe economic strain the local production ecosystem has endured as filming has migrated to other states and countries.
The inclusion of Los Angeles County is notable given that California has already expanded its own state-level film tax credit program in recent years. If the federal credits layer on top of existing state incentives without running afoul of tax law, California, Georgia, and New York — three of the nation’s largest production hubs — could become among the most financially attractive filming destinations in the world.
An Industry Under Pressure
The job losses cited in the reporting paint a stark picture of an industry in transition. The 3,600 jobs lost in June came on top of a difficult 2025 in which at least 17,000 positions were eliminated across film and sound recording. The longer-term trend is even more sobering: roughly 100,000 jobs gone since 2016, according to federal labor data.
Those figures encompass not just actors and directors but the vast network of carpenters, electricians, set designers, costume makers, drivers, and caterers whose livelihoods depend on productions being shot locally. When a film shoots in London or Toronto instead of Atlanta or Los Angeles, that entire ecosystem of workers loses out.
The bipartisan nature of the proposal is itself noteworthy. Moran and Scott, both Republicans, and Schiff, a Democrat, represent different ideological corners of Congress, yet all three have signed onto the effort. The involvement of Hollywood unions and the Motion Picture Association in drafting the legislation — groups that have not always seen eye to eye — suggests an unusual level of consensus behind the push.
Whether that consensus is enough to move the bill through a divided Congress remains to be seen. Lawmakers have introduced film incentive legislation before without success, and the price tag of a federal credit program could draw scrutiny from fiscal conservatives wary of expanding subsidies. The bill’s supporters, though, argue that the cost of inaction — in lost jobs, lost investment, and diminished cultural output — is far higher.
For now, the proposal represents the most ambitious federal effort in years to address the steady erosion of American film production. As Chianese’s assessment suggests, if the credits can be structured to stack cleanly with state incentives, the United States could suddenly find itself offering the most competitive production environment on the planet — a dramatic reversal from the current landscape in which American productions routinely chase better deals abroad.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2026/09/26/lawmakers-propose-big-20-30-tax-breaks-to-keep-film-production-in-u-s/