The Option

The U.S. Film & TV Production Coalition launched today, uniting virtually every major guild, union, studio group, and industry organization behind a proposed 20% federal transferable tax credit for film and television production. Alongside the launch, the MPA released an Olsberg SPI study projecting $249.1 billion in gross economic value added to the U.S. economy between 2027 and 2035 — the most comprehensive economic case yet made for a federal production incentive. For producers, agents, studio executives, and anyone whose business depends on where productions physically get made, this...

Show Notes

The U.S. Film & TV Production Coalition launched today, uniting virtually every major guild, union, studio group, and industry organization behind a proposed 20% federal transferable tax credit for film and television production. Alongside the launch, the MPA released an Olsberg SPI study projecting $249.1 billion in gross economic value added to the U.S. economy between 2027 and 2035 — the most comprehensive economic case yet made for a federal production incentive. For producers, agents, studio executives, and anyone whose business depends on where productions physically get made, this is the most significant policy development in years.

Key Takeaways:

  • The proposed credit is 20% transferable on qualifying expenditures, stackable on top of state incentives, with a $1M minimum spend threshold.
  • Additional uplifts of 5% each are included for labor costs in FEMA-declared disaster areas and for independent production companies.
  • The Olsberg SPI study (commissioned by the MPA) projects $249.1 billion in total gross value-added contribution to the U.S. economy from 2027–2035.
  • The model projects an average of 143,500 full-time equivalent jobs supported annually and $133.1 billion in additional labor income over the same period.
  • Without the incentive, the study projects U.S. location share declining to 25% for film and 29% for TV by 2035; with it, the model assumes a rise to 65% by 2030 (film) and 2032 (TV).
  • Coalition members include the DGA, SAG-AFTRA, WGA East and West, IATSE, Teamsters, PGA, MPA, ATA, NCTA, Television Academy, and others — nearly the full organized industry.
  • Bill introduction was targeted for this month, but the legislative calendar before midterms is extremely compressed, creating real timing pressure.

The political unlock here was President Trump's August endorsement — which gave bipartisan cover and pulled Republicans like Rep. Brian Jack (R-GA) into alignment with Democrats like Rep. Laura Friedman (D-CA). The stackability with state incentives is the structural detail that matters most: a combined federal-plus-state effective rate could fundamentally shift greenlight and location decisions industry-wide. Watch for whether a bill gets introduced before the midterm recess — if it doesn't, the question is whether this coalition holds through a new Congress.

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