Congress Should Pass a Federal Film and TV Production Tax Incentive to Reclaim Jobs and Economic Activity
Source: "Bipartisan group pushes to pass federal film production tax incentive | Fox News." November 1, 2026. www.foxnews.com
The Gist
The authors, who represent studios and entertainment unions, say other countries are luring film and TV work away with tax breaks, and the U.S. share of global production has dropped sharply. They argue a federal tax incentive would bring jobs back, pay for itself, and boost America's image abroad, and that Congress should pass it now.
Conclusion
Congress should enact a federal film and television production tax incentive this year, because it would bring production and jobs back to the U.S., pay for itself economically, and sustain a strategically and culturally important American industry.
Premises
- The film and TV industry is a major American economic engine, supporting over 2 million jobs, more than 162,000 businesses in all 50 states, and over $200 billion in annual wages.
- More than 120 jurisdictions worldwide now offer production incentives, and the U.S. share of global production has fallen from a historic 65% to 39%, resulting in lost jobs and idle soundstages.
- A federal incentive would make domestic shoots cost-competitive: one study found it would make 80% of projects competitive to shoot in the U.S., and restoring the 65% share would add almost $250 billion to local economies and over 143,000 jobs per year.
- State incentive programs show such incentives quickly pay for themselves, e.g., Georgia's credit yields a 6.3-to-1 return and Texas gains $4.50 per dollar invested.
- The federal government already supports strategically important industries (pharma, aerospace, automobiles) with targeted incentives to keep jobs in America, so film and TV should be treated the same.
- American-made films and shows make foreign audiences more likely to visit the U.S., buy American products, and engage with American culture, producing broader national benefits.
- There is bipartisan and cross-sector support, including labor, studios, President Trump, and legislators such as Sens. Tim Scott and Adam Schiff, behind the Motion Picture, Television, and Entertainment Revitalization Act.
Assumptions
- The decline in U.S. production share is caused primarily by foreign incentives rather than other factors such as labor costs, crew availability, or studio consolidation.
- Economic impact studies, many likely commissioned by industry stakeholders, accurately project the effects of a federal incentive.
- State-level return-on-investment figures will generalize to a federal program.
- Production activity attracted by the incentive would be new and not simply shifted from one U.S. state to another or subsidize shoots that would have happened anyway.
- Film and TV qualify as a strategically important industry comparable to pharma and aerospace.
- Soft-power benefits of American-made media are real and meaningfully tied to where production physically occurs.