Recently, I received emails from the Producers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA asking for help spreading the word about an important issue facing the film and television industry. So, what’s going on?

 

The Producers Guild of America (PGA) is supporting efforts to bring more film and television production back to the United States. If you’ve been in the business for as long as some of us have, you’ll know that over the last thirty years, more and more productions have moved away not only from Los Angeles, but from the United States.

 

I always tried to keep my feature film productions in Los Angeles and keep professional filmmakers close to home. I’ll tell you another reason why keeping production local can be great for indie filmmakers. Let’s say you have a modest budget and you shoot your movie in four to six weeks. It’s a quick shoot while the TV shows are on hiatus. You want to cast a popular sitcom actor, but you’re shooting in Bulgaria because you’re getting more for the dollar and the government incentives are hard to pass up.

 

The problem may very well be that the TV star you want in your indie film wants to spend time at home with their family and friends during the summer hiatus. The last thing they may want to do is travel thousands of miles away from home to work for scale. You’re also saving on travel expenses and hotel accommodations.

 

For independent filmmakers, production incentives can make the difference between getting a project off the ground and leaving it on the shelf. If incentives make more projects financially viable, that can mean more opportunities for cast and crew, more independent voices getting their stories produced, and more production taking place closer to home.

 

Keeping production at home, meaning in the Los Angeles area and the United States, can make it easier to attract actors to your film. At the same time, you’re keeping local crews employed. The challenge is that the financial incentives available in California and the U.S. generally have not matched those offered by many other countries.

 

Canada, for example, has been a leader in film production incentives. Several countries in Europe have also created incentives designed to attract film and television productions and the economic activity they bring with them.

 

The PGA is now asking for support for the Motion Picture, Television, and Entertainment Revitalization Act, federal legislation designed to make U.S. film and television production more competitive with international production incentives.

 

Similarly, SAG-AFTRA has asked its members to support federal production incentives that could help bring more film and television production back to the United States.

 

The decline in domestic production and the competition created by foreign production incentives have been issues for the U.S. film and television industry for decades.

 

The legislation now before Congress would establish a federal production incentive. SAG-AFTRA cites a recent study by consulting firm Olsberg SPI that estimates the incentive could generate more than $133 billion in new wages and 143,500 full-time-equivalent jobs annually through 2035.

 

Those figures are projections from the Olsberg SPI study cited by SAG-AFTRA, rather than guaranteed results.

 

As someone who has worked in independent film for more than 30 years, I know firsthand how important it is to have access to experienced local crews, production resources and talent. Whether you work in front of the camera, behind it, or as an independent producer, the future of domestic production affects the entire industry.

If you want to learn more about the legislation and the organizations' efforts, here are the links:

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Producers Guild of America Motion Picture, Television, and Entertainment Revitalization Act

https://producersguild.org/we-stand-for-the-motion-picture-television-and-entertainment-revitalization-act/

 

SAG-AFTRA Federal Production Incentives

https://actionnetwork.org/letters/morefilmjobs/