It’s the elephant in the room: Film and television production in the United States is not what it was two or three years ago.
Productions are increasingly moving overseas to take advantage of incentives that are more competitive than those offered by even the most generous of U.S. film hubs, including Georgia.
Lawmakers are taking notice. In a letter to the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) has signaled interest in a labor-based federal incentive for domestic production. The purpose: to maintain the U.S.’s standing as a leader in the film and television production and “spur more American jobs,” wrote Schiff, who is in the running for a U.S. Senate seat in California.
Schiff’s letter received almost immediate support from the union representing many crew members, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. IATSE President Matthew Loeb in a written statement backed the plan, provided it also has “the mechanisms to uphold labor standards.”
The lull in production has hit Georgia hard, particularly film workers who have struggled to find steady work.
The move comes less than a week after California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a plan to massively expand the cap on his state’s film tax credit program from $330 million to $750 million annually. The increased cap would, in theory, encourage producers to shoot in California, rather than going to lower-cost markets with better incentives like Georgia or, realistically, Eastern European countries.
“We’re in a position where we can afford this, and we need to do this,” Newsom said during the news conference announcing the proposal. “It’s about recognizing the world we invented is now competing against us.”
In the letter, Schiff requested data from both federal agencies to help assess U.S. film production employment trends, as well as the effect that tax incentives and globalization have had on production in the U.S. over the past several decades.
In the U.S., film incentives are doled out by states. In Georgia, production companies spending at least $500,000 can receive a tax credit of 20%, with an additional 10% if they tack on the Georgia peach logo at the end of the credits. (It’s the state’s largest corporate incentive.)
In other countries, however, federal incentives can be stacked with state or provisional-level incentives, Schiff wrote in the letter. Both Canada and Australia use this strategy, offering up to 30% and 40% federal tax credits, respectively, that can be combined with provincial tax credits ranging from 8% to 45%.
“As a result of these incentives, major blockbuster productions have chosen to shoot in these countries rather than in the U.S., bringing with them all the employment opportunities and investment in local economies that productions bring,” Schiff wrote.
Incentives play a major role in the moviemaking business. Over 100 national, state or provincial production incentives are offered in the global market, according to creative industries consulting firm Olsberg SPI.
Revamped in 2008, Georgia’s tax incentive turned the state into the “Hollywood of the South.” Cost-conscious producers and accountants ran the numbers and found Georgia was a low-cost alternative to major markets like Los Angeles and New York. An influx of workers followed. Between 2011 and 2021, Georgia led the way in job growth for the motion picture and video industries, adding more than 15,000 jobs, according to the BLS.
Over the years, other countries have adopted or updated existing film incentives. The United Kingdom and Hungary are now hot spots for projects of all scales, from big-budget Marvel action movies to reality television shows. Ireland, Romania and France also offer competitive incentives.
In the letter, Schiff wrote that generative artificial intelligence and computer-generated technologies have reduced the need to shoot on location. This encourages companies to move productions overseas to take advantage of more competitive incentives.
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