In front of the recently refurbished Alex Theatre in Glendale, Calif., flanked by Sen. Adam Schiff and a half-dozen fellow California House Democrats, Rep. Laura Friedman spoke of the urgent need to pass a federal film tax credit to provide a lifeline to hundreds of thousands of film and TV crew members who have struggled as Hollywood production has fled the country.
“Sixty-five countries offer incentives we don’t match, and no single state can outbid a foreign government on its own,” the freshman Congresswoman said earlier this month. “Our bipartisan bill is built on labor costs, which means it only pays off when American workers get hired. These are good paying union jobs with benefits and pensions, and I won’t stop fighting until they come home.”
Though the politicians at Friedman’s event were all deep blue, the Motion Picture, Television and Entertainment Revitalization Act is far from a partisan bill. With Republicans also lining up to support the bill, there is high optimism on Capitol Hill and among Hollywood lobbyists and producers that Congress will pass the federal incentive during the lame duck session set to begin in early November following the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
The highly anticipated bill…