Texas (KETK) – United States Congressman Nathaniel Moran of Tyler introduced a bipartisan union-backed bill this week that’s aimed at bringing film and television jobs back to the United States
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The Motion Picture, Television, and Entertainment Revitalization Act was introduced by Moran and fellow representatives Linda Sánchez (D-CA-38), Brian Jack (R-GA-03), Laura Friedman (D-CA-30), David Kustoff (R-TN-08), Judy Chu (D-CA-28), Mike Carey (R-OH-15) and Tom Suozzi (D-NY-03) on Thursday.
The bipartisan bill would create a federal tax credit to incentivize TV and film productions to shoot in the United States, instead of overseas, as a way to revitalize local film crews.
“When a production comes to a community—from rural East Texas to urban New York—that money doesn’t just benefit the production company. It helps the local caterer, the hardware store, the hoteliers, and every tradesman in between who makes film and television production possible,” Moran said in a press release. “Those jobs are going overseas right now simply because other countries are offering bigger handouts. If we want to keep American storytelling in America, we have to level the playing field, and that’s exactly what this bill does. This isn’t about subsidizing Hollywood—it’s about supporting the American worker, one story and one production at a time.”
In the United States Senate, companion legislation to the The Motion Picture, Television, and Entertainment Revitalization Act has been introduced by Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA).
“For years, I’ve been championing a federal film tax credit to stop the exodus of TV and film production leaving the United States for countries offering higher incentives. Now, we have the best opportunity in decades to get it done,” Schiff said. “The direct and indirect jobs created by this creative and talented workforce are enormously important, and we want to make sure they stay in this country. With the support of the White House, our bill will create an overdue federal program to bring the movie magic back to America while creating thousands of jobs and spurring local economic growth across the nation.”
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The legislation has received an outpouring of support from across the film industry including film companies like Paramount, the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and many film unions and guilds, including the following:
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The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE)
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The Producers Guild of America (PGA)
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The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA)
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The Directors Guild of America (DGA)
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The American Federation of Musicians, American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP)
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The Writers Guild of America East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW)
“SAG-AFTRA is proud to partner with our fellow unions, industry and policymakers in a bipartisan effort to rescue the domestic film and television business. The money is being invested, the productions are being made, the jobs are being created, just not in America. This is a jobs bill and that is exactly what our members want to see. We have the infrastructure. We have the crews. We have the talent. Now all we need is a level playing field. We are the storytellers who inform and entertain the world. Let’s get back to doing that right here at home. Thank you, Senators Scott and Schiff and Representatives Moran, Sánchez, Friedman, and Jack, for championing this critical legislation,” actor and president of SAG-AFTRA Sean Astin said.
On top of creating a new tax credit for American productions, the bill would also create new incentives for productions filmed in rural areas and federally declared disaster areas like places impacted by hurricanes and wildfires.
Academy Award-winning director and DGA president Christopher Nolan called the act “the most significant legislative effort in a generation to promote domestic film and television production.”
“The Motion Picture, Television, and Entertainment Revitalization Act is the most significant legislative effort in a generation to promote domestic film and television production, and the hundreds of thousands of jobs it supports. This moment is the culmination of years of work by the entertainment guilds and unions, in partnership with the MPA and lawmakers from both parties,” Nolan said. “The DGA thanks Senators Scott and Schiff and Representatives Moran, Jack, and Friedman for advancing this important bipartisan effort to strengthen domestic production, create jobs, and further build on the critical work already underway through state incentives in California, New York, Illinois, Georgia and elsewhere.”
Check out the document below to read more from the labor groups and entertainment companies supporting the legislation:
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