Several Hollywood industry and labor organizations wrote to President Trump on Monday asking fortax breaks that they said would help bring more film and television production back to the United States.
The letter was sent in response to Mr. Trump’s declaration on Truth Social last Sunday that he would put a 100 percent tariff on films made outside the United States. It was signed by the Motion Picture Association, the trade association representing the major Hollywood studios; the main writers’ and actors’ guilds; and the actors Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone, two of Mr. Trump’s chosen Hollywood advisers.
“Returning more production to the United States will require a national approach and broad-based policy solutions,” the letter said.
The White House quickly walked back Mr. Trump’s tariff threat, but not before his post had put a spotlight on the declining levels of film and TV production in California and the United States. Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, who has long supported doubling his state’s tax credit for production, countered Mr. Trump by calling for a $7.5 billion federal tax credit.
The letter sent on Monday focuses instead on three requests for changes to the tax code:
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A 15 percent corporate tax rate (down from the current 21 percent) for domestic manufacturing activities, including film and television production.
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Extending a tax provision that allows up to $15 million of qualified film and television production expenses to be deductible in the year in the year the expenses were incurred, instead of the year a film or television show is released. The group also asked for the limit be raised to raised to $30 million.
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Allowing studios and production companies to carry losses to prior and future tax years.
Nicole Sperling covers Hollywood and the streaming industry. She has been a reporter for more than two decades.
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