Academy Award-winning actor Jon Voight and his manager, Steven Paul, say they plan to present ideas to President Donald Trump as early as next week to help boost film and TV production in the United States.
The suggestions could include changes to the tax code, adding incentives for infrastructure incentives, and job training, while going beyond the tax credits usually offered by states, reports Bloomberg News.
"It's important that we compete with what's going on around the world, so there needs to be some sort of federal tax incentives," Paul commented.
Trump in January named Voight, along with fellow actors Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone, as special ambassadors to Hollywood, which the president referred to as a great but very troubled place."
The group is trying to address the current situation where states compete with each other to lure film productions with ever more generous tax credits. Their approach includes national initiatives that would help the U.S. win business that might have gone overseas, Paul said.
Film and TV production have been hit hard in Hollywood and nationwide, with studios cutting back while other countries solicit business through tax incentives.
Meanwhile, the industry has been booming in the U.K., Australia, Hungary, and Spain in recent years. One bill in California proposes to more than double the state's incentives to $750 million a year.
According to Scott Karol, the president of Paul's company, SP Media Group, Voight's group has already met with union representatives, state officials, and studio executives to gather their thoughts.
One of the suggestions is expected to be to adjust Section 181 of the U.S. tax code. The incentive, allowing accelerated deductions for film and TV production, will expire this year, but proponents for change say that it could be extended, and its current limit of $15 million per production could be raised.
They may also discuss an idea to reward tax incentives for companies that make long-term commitments, such as building sound stages.
This would be modeled on an agreement from Netflix to make movies and television programs in New Jersey over a 10-year period in exchange for a 40% rebate.
Paul, who produced "Man With No Past" starring Voight, said his plans include moving three new movies to California from overseas, while investing in a studio property in Los Angeles.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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