www.indiewire.com: A new study shows that if the United States were to adopt a federal film tax incentive program, the benefits could be enormous. Production spend between 2027 and 2035 could rise an extra $125.3 billion. Nearly $250 billion in overall income for the economy could be generated. The U.S. could add an estimated 143,500 full time jobs. And America’s share of filming around the world could reach as high as 65 percent of all film and TV projects.
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I think the idea of a federal tax incentive for film and TV is really interesting because it could have a major effect on where productions choose to work. The article explains that a study commissioned by the MPA estimates that a federal tax could generate an additional $125 billion in U.S. production spending and more than 143,000 jobs by 2035. I think this could be especially helpful for people working behind the scenes, such as sound designers, electricians, costume workers, and set designers, because more productions could mean more opportunities and higher. I think it is extremely important to recognize film and TV as not only a legitimate art form but also something that needs more funding, especially because the general population relies on it for entertainment every day. Overall, I think the potential economic benefits are significant, and that this tax should be tested more and considered by the government legitimately.
I think that our federal government is finally doing something beneficial for the film industry by
implementing a federal tax incentive for filming, and I hope it isn’t too little, too late. When reading this article, I thought back to two of my favorite films this past year. Frankenstein, produced by Guillermo del Toro, and Spider-Man, the box office hit produced by Marvel. Both films were almost entirely filmed outside of the US, in Scotland and Toronto, and they were so successful. Just think of how much these films could have benefited US businesses. I’m sure that US filmmakers would keep things within the country if they could; it's just way too expensive to film here. I know that this law will help with expenses; I just wish that it had been implemented before hundreds of thousands of film sets were taken abroad. If more laws like this one are created to protect US artists, the arts would flourish like never before.
I have mixed feelings about this incentive after reading both this article and the article I selected yesterday (the one regarding Paramount’s threats to leave California if a deal is not met with their Warner Brothers merger). On one hand, I am absolutely thrilled that this federal incentive is supported by both political parties and that our national filmmaking industry could receive major protection. On the other hand, there still are so many uncertainties regarding this incentive. For starters, there is no official language or numbers for what this incentive will look like, there are only assumptions and estimates. Secondly, I am interested in how this will play out in Paramount’s decision to stay or leave Los Angeles. For example, we do not yet know if this federal incentive replaces or can be combined with state incentives. If it is combined with incentives, then Paramount might leave because other states such as Georgia, Tennessee and Texas are all “sweetening the deal” with their incentives in an attempt to attract Paramount. If the federal incentive replaces state incentives, then Paramount might have no reason to leave its current location. However, combining state and federal incentives might make filmmaking more accessible across the country, not just in our current “film giant” cities. I hope more accurate and detailed information about this incentive is released soon.
With ever rising costs of film production in the United States producers are flocking elsewhere to countries with cheaper costs and better tax incentives, which is especially important as more and more movies seem to be doing poorly in the box office. The idea of bringing film production back to the U.S. is not new for this presidential term. Trump announced a 100% tariff on films produced outside the U.S. in May of 2025, which is sort of the opposite to what the industry has been asking for or actually needs. Trump’s pattern for “bringing production back to the United States,” doesn't align with making it cheaper to produce locally, but by making it too expensive to produce elsewhere, which is highly inefficient economically.
This federal film incentive does everything that everyone wants. Makes it cheaper to produce in the U.S., and in turn brings more of the share of film production domestically. The United States is the most geographically diverse country on earth, spanning hundreds of miles both latitudinally and longitudinally. If the incentives reduce production cost enough there would be almost no reason to film outside of the U.S. making everyone happy, except for the Kiwis in New Zealand.
This incentive would be giving the opportunity to have productions work in the US to give jobs and crews and spending to local communities where they film and to support companies that prioritize entertainment production. Bringing back the filming to the US would give opportunity to expand productions and their choices financially viable to give backgrounds and scenes back into the landscapes that can be achieved in the US
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