AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
American film and TV productions have been made in other countries for years, lured by international tax incentives and rebates. Congress is now set to debate a federal tax credit bill to entice productions to remain in the United States. Joining us from Los Angeles to discuss this is NPR culture correspondent Mandalit del Barco. Hi, Mandalit.
MANDALIT DEL BARCO, BYLINE: Hello.
RASCOE: So tell us. What's in this bill?
DEL BARCO: Yeah. So it's designed to offer tax credits - possibly 20% to 30% of a production's cost - to production companies and studios that make their films, TV shows, and other entertainment inside the U.S. That would be in addition to tax credits or rebates already being offered in states like Georgia, Texas and, more recently, California. You know, I spoke to Congresswoman Laura Friedman, who represents Los Angeles. For 20 years, she was an independent film producer and also worked at Paramount and HBO.
LAURA FRIEDMAN: I can tell you, as someone who moved across the country to follow that dream of being in the entertainment industry, it's very aspirational. It employs people across a wide sector of crafts and occupations. It's creative. And we are losing that in this country, and that's on us. I want this country to choose to be the world's leader in entertainment and content.
DEL BARCO: You know, Friedman is one of the authors of the bipartisan bill that's being introduced to Congress soon. She says this really is a jobs bill for an industry that employs almost 2.5 million people and supports thousands of small businesses across the country.
RASCOE: How big a deal is this issue of productions being made elsewhere?
DEL BARCO: Well, for people who work in film and TV production, this is a huge deal on top of so many other changes in the industry, including fewer and fewer film and TV production jobs in Los Angeles, which for so long was the entertainment capital. I spoke with Joel Dougherty. He's a sound re-recordist for a lot of big movies. And he told me there's so little work in LA now that some of his colleagues have quit the business. Others have to constantly travel or relocate their families for work. Or if they can't do that, they're replaced in countries where producers are cutting costs.
JOEL DOUGHERTY: I have no idea what will actually bring the jobs back. I think it's worth trying to level the playing field. But I don't know what will stop the people from just trying to find the cheapest thing they can find rather than the best thing they can find.
DEL BARCO: Now, Dougherty says he's hopeful about the federal tax credit adding to the new state incentives, such as a new bill in California for post-productions that's headed to the governor to sign. But the national bill's supporters emphasize this is not just a Hollywood thing, and it's not just for the expensive movie stars.
RASCOE: How did this all start, with productions going to other countries?
DEL BARCO: Well, it's known in the business as runaway production. Film and TV shows have been offshoring ever since Canada began offering tax credits in the mid-1990s. Then producers began chasing after incentives, rebates and grants in Australia, the U.K. and other countries around the world. Friedman says the U.S. is actually late in offering federal incentives.
RASCOE: President Trump has endorsed the idea of a federal tax credit. What can you tell us about that?
DEL BARCO: Yeah. So last year, Trump named three A-listers to be his Hollywood ambassadors - Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson and John Voight. Well, Voight and his associates have met up with the president a few times. After their first meet-up, Trump posted on his social media website, Truth Social, he'd impose a 100% tariffs on movies made outside the U.S. That led to a lot of confusion, and ultimately, it went nowhere. But now Trump is supporting the proposed legislation, which has a very long name - the Motion Picture, Television, and Entertainment Revitalization Act. Many people in the industry hope that leads to a comeback for Hollywood. We'll see.
RASCOE: That's NPR's Mandalit del Barco in Los Angeles. Thank you so much.
DEL BARCO: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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