Entertainment

Bipartisan federal film-tax-credit bill targets runaway production

The proposal would offer a 20% base credit for qualifying U.S. film, television, post-production and visual-effects labor, with bonuses raising the total to as much as 30%.

Image credit: Cbl62 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0; archival photo of a Studio City soundstage

A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced the Motion Picture, Television, and Entertainment Revitalization Act on September 24, proposing a federal incentive intended to bring film and television work back to the United States. The bill would provide a 20% labor-based tax credit for qualifying productions that spend at least $1 million and complete at least 75% of principal photography in the country, according to an official announcement from Sen. Adam Schiff’s office.

What it means locally

The proposal also covers qualifying post-production and visual-effects work performed mostly in the United States. Optional 5% bonuses could raise the credit to a maximum of 30% for independent productions, projects working in rural opportunity zones or disaster areas, multi-state productions and companies that demonstrate work is returning from overseas. The federal credit could be combined with state incentives, making the bill especially relevant to Southern California after California expanded its own production-credit program. The measure has been introduced in Congress but has not become law.

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