A bipartisan bill introduced in Congress on September 24—the Motion Picture, Television, and Entertainment Revitalization Act—proposes a rare federal production incentive for film and television in the US. For an industry that has watched state-level credits lose ground to Canada, the UK and other subsidized markets, the legislation is being framed as a structural fix rather than a narrow Hollywood tax break.
What the bill actually does
The proposal creates a 20 percent base tax credit for qualifying productions. To qualify, a film or TV project needs a budget of at least $1 million and must shoot 75 percent of principal photography inside the United States. The credit covers above-the-line talent—often the largest expense for independent productions—and can rise through 5 percent bonus credits to a maximum of 30 percent for independent projects, multi-state shoots, or work in rural and federally declared disaster areas.
- 20% base credit on eligible US productions
- 30% maximum after indie, multi-state, rural or disaster-area bonuses
- Stackable with existing state credits rather than offsetting them
- Includes above-the-line talent, post-production, VFX and writers
Because the federal credit is stackable, the effective number can climb quickly. A producer qualifying for the full 30 percent federal credit and California’s 35 percent base credit could potentially see credits equivalent to about 65 percent. Los Angeles County is currently a federally declared disaster zone after last year’s wildfires, which keeps it eligible for that status for five years.
Why the numbers matter
The US share of total productions fell from 51 percent in 2022 to 39 percent in the first quarter of 2025, a 12-point drop in three years, according to Prod Pro data cited in the report. That decline is the core argument behind the bill: without a federal response, the domestic production base could keep losing projects to countries with more aggressive national incentive programs.
Christopher Nolan, president of the Directors Guild of America, called the legislation “the most significant legislative effort in a generation to promote domestic film and television production.” Ryan Broussard, VP of sales and production incentives at Wrapbook, said the proposal looked “too good to be true” because it covers areas like writers and post-production that most incentive programs ignore.
The Motion Picture Association has modeled a similar federal credit and estimated it could add 143,500 jobs and $125 billion in production spend over eight years. Broussard said those figures feel broadly credible after seeing the bill’s details. The bill is also written to lift state programs that currently have thin incentives, not just established production hubs.
What happens next
The bill still has to clear a Congress that has passed almost nothing this session. If it does not pass before the next Congress is sworn in, it would need to be reintroduced from scratch. Supporters see a path through the lame-duck period after the midterms, with a potential effective date as early as January 1, 2027.
For producers and finance teams, the immediate step is to rebuild location models with a federal layer included, not just state credits. For platforms and media buyers, the bill could shift where future slates originate—and how quickly US-based production capacity recovers.
Source: IndieWire
