Bipartisan Group Formally Introduces 20% Federal Film Incentive

A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced the Motion Picture, Television, and Entertainment Revitalization Act on Thursday, formally putting a federal film and TV production incentive before Congress for the first time, according to Variety, Deadline, Screen Daily and The Wrap. The bill's base credit is 20 percent, uncapped, and applies to all qualifying labor costs, both below-the-line and above-the-line, a structural choice IndieWire's analysis called "the biggest gain in the bill" since above-the-line pay is often the largest single cost on an independent production. Productions qualify if their total budget exceeds $1 million and at least 75 percent of principal photography happens in the U.S.; post-production, VFX and animation work are eligible, while news and live sports are excluded. On top of the base rate, productions can claim 5 percent uplifts, up to a 30 percent maximum, for meeting criteria including at least 30 percent of principal photography days in a rural qualified opportunity zone or federally declared disaster area, qualifying as an independent production, or shooting at least half its days and spending $10 million or more in 10 or more states. Los Angeles County separately qualifies for a 5 percent uplift through 2030 under its federal disaster designation from the Palisades and Altadena wildfires. The credit is designed to stack on top of the incentives already offered by 31 states. Entertainment Partners senior VP Joe Chianese said, "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." Senate sponsors are Tim Scott (R-SC) and Adam Schiff (D-CA); House sponsors include Reps. Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Brian Jack (R-GA), Nathaniel Moran (R-TX) and Laura Friedman (D-CA), with additional backing from Reps. Judy Chu, David Kustoff, Mike Carey and Tom Suozzi. "If we want to keep American storytelling in America, we have to level the playing field, and that's exactly what this bill does," Moran said. Schiff called it "the best opportunity in decades to get it done." SAG-AFTRA president Sean Astin said the bipartisan sponsorship left him "optimistic that we will, at long last, get a federal tax incentive." An MPA study released last week projected the incentive could double the U.S. film and TV production industry, currently valued at $20 billion, by 2032, creating roughly 143,500 jobs. The legislation is the product of a two-year collaboration between Hollywood's unions and the MPA.