US President Donald Trump has called for a federal intervention to bring film and television production back to American soil, arguing that Hollywood has lost business to countries offering more lucrative production incentives. Following a meeting with actor and his Hollywood ambassador, Jon Voight, Trump said he wants Congress to work on a nationwide tax incentive for the entertainment industry.
Trump took to Truth Social to describe Hollywood as a “Complete and Total Disaster”, claiming that production has increasingly shifted to Canada and other countries. He argued that the lack of comparable incentives in the US has contributed to the decline in domestic shoots, particularly hurting California, traditionally the centre of the American film industry.
The president said Voight and others from the industry had proposed federal tax incentives as a way to reverse the trend. Trump has urged Republicans and Democrats to work together on the legislation and claimed that the money spent on such incentives would be recovered “tenfold” through increased economic activity and tax revenues. “Congress should approve, immediately, a Federal Production Incentive to create Entertainment Jobs in America,” he wrote.
The proposal comes amid a continued migration of Hollywood productions overseas. According to the Los Angeles Times, 45 per cent of American films and scripted television shows were shot internationally last year, compared with about 33 per cent in 2022. Canada, the UK and Hungary have emerged as some of the major beneficiaries of production leaving the US.
Voight has previously advocated for a federal production credit and is working with a coalition that includes the Motion Picture Association, the Directors Guild of America and entertainment unions. A proposal backed by the group has called for a 20 per cent federal tax credit on labour costs for productions filmed in the US.
The Motion Picture Association has welcomed Trump's latest push, with its chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin calling a federal incentive a potential “landmark step” towards bringing productions back to local communities across the country. California Senator Adam Schiff, a Democrat, has also backed the idea, although getting the proposal through Congress could prove challenging.