It may be couched in a whole lot of rants about California and Hollywood and making America Great Again, but President Trump has come out in support of something a lot of people in Hollywood have been clamoring for across years: a federal film tax credit.
In a post on Truth Social that is as rambling and full of random capitalization and personal screeds as anything else he generally posts, President Trump endorsed the idea of a tax credit to help more films be shot in America and called on a bipartisan group of politicians to support a plan.
“I am going to suggest that Republicans and Democrats get together and immediately craft Legislation to save the Movie, Television, and Entertainment Business in America. Congress should approve, immediately, a Federal Production Incentive to create Entertainment Jobs in America,” he wrote.
The head of the Motion Pictures Association Charles Rivkin put out a statement (one that reads nothing like the President’s) applauding Trump’s initiative on the issue.
“For over a century, American studios, casts, and crews have produced the films and series that the world wants to see,” Rivkin said. “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. We applaud President Trump’s support for this vital action, and we look forward to continuing to work with the White House and bipartisan leaders in Congress to enact a meaningful and effective national incentive into law.”
Trump said his desire to finally support a federal film incentive came from a meeting with Jon Voight, who was one of Trump’s “ambassadors” on the issue. Voight previously released some thoughts when Trump originally talked about tariffs on the film industry, but little of specific substance has happened since then. Rivkin however did hint an incentive could be coming at CinemaCon, and the feeling was that while people like California Senator Adam Schiff had been beating the drum for one, Republicans were largely waiting on Trump’s say so before plowing ahead.
A federal film tax credit would go a long way toward helping Hollywood productions compete with the likes of runaway film and TV production to places like London, Canada, and elsewhere in Europe. By throwing federal tax dollars on top of state tax credits from places like California or Georgia and elsewhere could be the thumb on the scale that can get feature film tentpoles, not just TV productions, to largely start shooting in the states again. Some of the perks London though currently offers makes it impossible for the states to compete on their own. That’s been seen in production rates in Los Angeles dropping despite aggressive new credits in the last year.
This is a huge step, but we’ll see what concrete steps are taken and what legislation is introduced, if any.
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