Trump\u2019s proposal, <\/a>arguing that U.S. productions and thousands of jobs have been lost to countries offering more competitive incentives.<\/p>\nAmong those backing Trump\u2019s plan was SAG-AFTRA president Sean Astin, star of the Lord of the Rings franchise, The Goonies and Stranger Things, who in a joint statement with national executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland hailed the president\u2019s \u201cvocal and determined leadership\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cCalling for federal production incentives is exactly what the entertainment industry needs,\u201d their statement said.<\/p>\n
Trump called on Congress Monday to approve a federal production incentive, saying the movement of film and television projects overseas has hurt California and other parts of the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cCongress should approve, immediately, a Federal Production Incentive to create Entertainment Jobs in America,\u201d Trump wrote on Truth Social.<\/p>\n
![\"\u201dProduction](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/2264347909...jpeg\")
\u201dProduction is the lifeblood of our industry and the communities that support it,\u201d SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin (Getty)<\/p>\n
Trump did not provide details about the size or structure of the proposed incentive but said bipartisan discussions with congressional leaders were being arranged.<\/p>\n
Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California also called for Congress to consider and pass a federal film tax incentive, arguing it could help restore jobs lost overseas.<\/p>\n
![\"IATSE](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SEI236605686.jpg\")
IATSE said it has been working with actor Jon Voight, whom Trump appointed as a special ambassador to Hollywood, other industry figures and a bipartisan group of lawmakers on potential legislation (Getty Images)<\/p>\n
IATSE said Trump\u2019s endorsement added momentum to a proposal the union has advocated for years as foreign countries increasingly use generous incentives to lure American productions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIATSE welcomes President Donald Trump’s public endorsement of a federal film and television production incentive and is encouraged to see growing support for a policy the union has championed for years,\u201d the union said.<\/p>\n
IATSE said it has been working with actor Jon Voight, whom Trump appointed as a special ambassador to Hollywood, other industry figures and a bipartisan group of lawmakers on potential legislation.<\/p>\n
![\"Democratic](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/2289052254...jpeg\")
Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California also called for Congress to consider and pass a federal film tax incentive, arguing it could help restore jobs lost overseas (Getty)<\/p>\n
Teamsters Local 399, which represents about 6,500 motion picture workers in California and New Mexico, also welcomed Trump\u2019s announcement and said it was working with an industry coalition on a federal incentive.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe applaud this step in the right direction,\u201d the union said.<\/p>\n
The push comes as California attempts to reverse a prolonged decline in production. The state increased annual funding for its Film and Television Tax Credit Program from $330 million to $750 million beginning in the 2025-26 fiscal year.<\/p>\n
California has faced growing competition from other states and countries offering financial incentives and lower production costs. The industry has also been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2023 Hollywood strikes and the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s support for an incentive marks a shift from his approach in 2025, when he floated imposing a 100% tariff on movies produced outside the United States, a proposal that raised questions about how it could be implemented.<\/p>\n
Los Angeles City Councilmember Adrin Nazarian, who chairs the council\u2019s Ad Hoc Committee on Film, Entertainment and Creative Industry, said a federal incentive was needed for the U.S. to compete internationally.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a partisan political issue,\u201d Nazarian said. \u201cIt’s about doing what’s right for the thousands of below-the-line production workers who build the sets, haul equipment, and do a hundred other behind-the-scenes jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Motion Picture Association also backed Trump\u2019s proposal, with Chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin saying a federal incentive could bring production and jobs to communities across all 50 states.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1040690,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[9],"tags":[38853,49772,9559,1002,7837,171,454,81770,1005,92222,54075,3546,3092,80,91183,48788,86405,22756,95,67,132,68,2969,333,13594],"class_list":["post-1040689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-adam-schiff","tag-attorney-general","tag-capitol-hill","tag-color-image","tag-democracy","tag-entertainment","tag-government","tag-headshot","tag-horizontal","tag-nomination","tag-one-person","tag-people","tag-photography","tag-politics","tag-politics-and-government","tag-senate-judiciary-committee","tag-senator","tag-talking","tag-todd-blanche","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-voting","tag-washington-dc"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1040689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1040689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1040689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1040690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1040689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1040689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1040689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}