Congress Must Act to Support Cinemas Tax Credit and Keep Movies on Main Street

For more than a century, the American motion picture industry has been an enduring part of our shared experience. Movies bring audiences across the country the unique magic of sitting with their neighbors to see extraordinary stories told on the big screen at their local cinema.

This summer’s strong box office demonstrates once again that Americans still love going to the movies. But that success masks one important truth facing theatrical exhibition today: Over the past six years, studio consolidation, a global pandemic, and multiple labor strikes have all contributed to a long-term erosion of available capital to reinvest in our businesses. For nearly all theater owners, years of lost and disrupted revenue mean that even as audiences are returning, the capital needed for major improvements has not. Thankfully, a bipartisan bill, the Supporting Cinema Renewal, Enhancement, and Enriching Neighborhoods (SCREEN) Act (H.R. 9938), is waiting in the wings. This legislation will have a direct economic impact in all 50 states, and we urge Congress to act.

We are four small business owners who represent this vital piece of the American film industry’s success, and as Congress considers how to restore and strengthen American film, it must ensure movie theaters…