A group led by actor Jon Voight is hoping to get legislation introduced this month in Congress that would create new federal tax incentives for film and TV production in the U.S., after receiving an endorsement from President Donald Trump this week.
The bill will focus on expanding tax credits, while other initiatives, such as incentives for industry infrastructure, could come later, according to Steven Paul, Voight's long-time manager who is working with him on the effort.
"The good news is that this is something for both sides of the aisle," Paul said in a telephone interview. "It's Democrats and Republicans in the business that need this."
Voight, who was named a special ambassador to Hollywood by Trump last year, has spent much of his time since then championing a federal set of incentives to keep film and TV jobs in the U.S.
Voight and his team, which included Paul and Scott Karol, president of Paul's company, met with Trump in the White House on Monday.
After the meeting, Trump posted on social media that he supported a federal incentive program. "Hollywood is a Complete and Total Disaster!," Trump wrote, adding that the film business has moved to Canada and other countries "with very little work being done anymore in the United States."
Voight's group has been working with unions, studios, state officials and industry participants to form a coalition supporting the initiative. The Motion Picture Association, a trade group representing Hollywood studios, is working on a report on the potential impact of the credits.
The federal incentives could be used on top of state tax credits and would be transferable, meaning others could buy them and use them to offset their taxes.
The U.S. film and TV industry has seen domestic production shrink as studios seek other locales with lower-cost labor and more generous subsidies. In the U.S., individual states often compete against each other with incentives to lure filmmakers, but there's little in the way of federal subsidies.
Focusing on legislation benefitting Hollywood studios could pose political risks for Trump, who has seen his approval rating plummet as polls show Americans give him poor marks for his handling of inflation and describe him as being out of touch with their concerns.
Last year, Trump said he would impose a 100% tariff on foreign-made films, a move the industry didn't support.
Rather than focus on an affordability message ahead of the midterm elections, Trump has frequently become preoccupied by pet projects, such as his renovations of Washington landmarks. Authorizing more tax credits could also rile bond markets at a time when yields have risen partly out of concern about ballooning U.S. deficits and debt.
