Unscripted producers have spent years watching big reality and competition formats leave the U.S. for cheaper shoots abroad. A newly introduced federal film and TV incentive would, for the first time at this level, give many of those formats a reason to stay.
The threshold that would matter
The Motion Picture, Television, and Entertainment Revitalization Act was introduced Thursday morning by Sens. Tim Scott and Adam Schiff. As drafted, it would include unscripted series that run at least four episodes, carry a budget above $1 million and keep at least 75% of production in the U.S. It also proposes a 5% uplift for shooting in rural areas.
That creates a simple slate filter for production and media teams: not every reality title qualifies, but the larger competition and nonfiction formats that have been leaving the U.S. would clear the bar.
Why producers lobbied all summer
NPACT general manager Michelle Van Kempen and producer groups spent much of the summer pressing for inclusion, according to Deadline, working with the MPA, Film USA and congressional offices. Producer partners included Bunim-Murray, Kinetic Content, Lionsgate Alternative TV and Studio Lambert. Shawn Moffat also helped bring together Fulwell Entertainment, Omaha Productions and Unrealistic Ideas.
The relocation list is stark. Netflix’s Wonka’s The Golden Ticket shot in Australia and its Monopoly take filmed in the UK. ABC’s The Mob went to Italy. Fox shoots MasterChef and Fear Factor in Canada, and Don’t Forget the Lyrics and Next Level Chef in Ireland.
Jay Pharoah, host of Fox’s The Quiz with Balls, told Deadline that his show has shot in Australia and Belgium, and said it was “easier and cheaper to shoot out of America now, which is ridiculous.” Rob Lowe called it “criminal” that The Floor could bring 100 people to Ireland more cheaply than filming in L.A.
The exclusions still define the strategy
- Game shows
- News, interview and talk shows
- Awards programming
- Live sporting events
That fine print matters. The Quiz with Balls and The Floor would likely keep traveling because game shows remain excluded. The reason for that exclusion is still unclear.
State-level competition is not waiting
Georgia has become the new home of American Idol and could land America’s Got Talent. New Jersey now hosts The Masked Singer. California’s AB1138 opened tax credits for competition shows, though only one series—Mark Rober’s Netflix show Schooled!—has used it so far.
Fox Entertainment Studios’ head of unscripted Allison Wallach said the company is “absolutely leaning into filming here, if we can.”
What to track now
The bill has not passed. Teams should not rebook foreign shoots yet. Use the four-episode, $1 million, 75% domestic test to segment slates, watch whether the game-show exclusion survives, and model state credits as a stackable variable alongside the proposed rural uplift.
Source: Deadline
