Long before Trump suggested film rates, Hollywood hurt: NPR

On a Hollywood -Backlot in Los Angeles you can find a Replica New York City Street -complete with a restaurant, a kiosk, brownstones, a bodega and a metro -input.

It is part of the Radford Studio Center, a vast production hub in Studio City. In 1928, Silent Film -actor and director Mack Sennett built the studio on what was once a lettuce ranch. Classic TV shows Gunmoke” Gilligan’s Island And The Mary Tyler Moore Show Are all made here. The hit TV show was from the 1990s Signal.

“This phase has a lot of positive juju,” says Zach Sokoloff of Radford’s Soundstage Nine, where Signal Included. Sokoloff is a senior vice president at Hackman Capital Partners, who manages Radford Studio Center and Studios around the world.

Sokoloff drives in a studio golf cart to the Backlot and points to the place where the famous episode “The Soup Nazi” was made of the show.

The lot is full of recognizable Signal Spots: “Up there you have the balcony where Jerry threw the marbled rye,” he says.

Sokoloff explains that the studio has built this backlot for Signal In 1994, after a huge earthquake of 6.7 Magnitude Los Angeles rocked and destroyed a large part of the set.

“There was fear of staying in LA, so we decided to bring New York to production, in contrast to production to New York,” he says.

Building a New York City replica is what it took to convince Seinfeld to stay in California, says Sokoloff. But keeping productions in the area – and even in the country – has become a challenge, at a time when film and TV production has increasingly moved elsewhere.

The issue came to the attention this month, When President Trump would become social to explain“The film industry in America dies a very fast death.” He announced that he would authorize a 100% rate on films made outside the US

Trump’s proclamation – Asked by a visit from one of his “special ambassadors” to Hollywood, Jon Voight – Shocked and confused film industries around the world. But the president quickly paused to consider the idea and say that he would meet market leaders because he “wanted to make them happy.” In the days since then, Voight and colleague “ambassador” Sylvester Stallone worked with the Motion Picture Association and various industrial trade unions to make a letter that encouraged the president to consider federal tax stimuli and to adjust certain tax provisions to increase the film and TV production in the United States.

The entire episode opened a conversation about the decline of TV and making films and that can be done about it.

A global competition for production work

According to Filmla, who gives it a film, the production is still not recovered from the COVID-19 Pandemie and delays caused by the strikes of the writers and actors in 2023. Studios and streamers do not order that many shows nowadays.

“With less work to go around, the competition for what remains is intensified,” says spokesperson Philip Sokoloski.

Most states have a kind of financial stimulus for productions. This also applies to nearly 100 countries, including Canada, the VK, Ireland and Australia.

“Even Thailand [has incentives]”Says Joe Chianese, senior vice president of Entertainment Partners, a global production company for production services.” The recent season of The White Lotus Was completely shot in Thailand. With the number of incentives here in the US and all over the world, producers really have many choices. “

Chianese consults with producers about Production laws, stimuli and taxes all over the world.

He says that productions can bring a lot of money to an area at the same time, “which is a real incentive for the economy that creates jobs.” The trend of what is known as “Runaway Production” started in the late 1990s, he says, when Canada introduced tax credits for film and TV production, and “You saw that rolling out in other countries.”

Since then there has been worldwide competition for entertainment jobs and bragging.

Even within the US, states compete for production

Within the US, States are Jockeyen to get that show business jobs. Last week New York approved its budget with an increase of $ 100 million in funds that focus on production stimuli, so that a total of $ 800 million was set aside.

This week, thanks to the tax credits of New Jersey, Netflix broke terrain on new soundstagesA backlot and post-production facilities at a former US Army Base in Fort Monmouth.

And in Texas, a proposed state account that offers more Incentives to film there has been given a boost from some famous celebrities.

“Small group of Texas budget surplus could change this state to the new Hollywood,” actor Woody Harrelson says in a recent videoTogether with Matthew McConaughey, Billy Bob Thornton, Dennis Quaid and Renée Zellweer.

“No shade for Texas, but I think people prefer to film in California,” says Steven Jaworski, vice -president of production for A&E Studios.

Jaworski is responsible for the budgeting for the Netflix series The Lincoln lawyerA legal drama produced in Los Angeles Center Studios, not far from the town hall and other locations in the city center where the show often shoots.

“The reality is that this show can be shot everywhere,” he says from the set of The Lincoln lawyer. “La is a character for our story … but as the costs rise, whether it is inflation or even the way in which the economy goes, there may be a mandate of ‘you have to lower your costs’, and the only way to keep the show going to be going on. It would be heartbreaking if this show had to leave.”

Long before the announcement of Trump, Jaworski and others were an alarm about productions that left California.

“The situation is so terrible,” he says, “that if something is not done this summer, I really believe that California is the entertainment capital of the world and the production capital of the world – I think that will be a thing of the past.”

California needs a comeback, studio managers and grassroots groups agree

Only in 2009 did California began to offer tax credits to film there – and by that time production already moved elsewhere to take advantage of lucrative credits. Californian legislation was even nicknamed “The Ugly Betty Bill” – after the HIT ABC series that moved his production from California to New York For tax credits there.

But according to Casey Bloys, the chairman and CEO of HBO and Max Content, the existing tax liability program of California must be poorly updated.

“The talent is here, the infrastructure is here. We have a number of shows, including Hacksphotographing here, “he said earlier this month on a panel of the Milken Institute.” But the problem is, when you try to plan, you have to get into a lottery, and you are not sure if your show will get a tax break or not. “

Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO and President Ravi Ahuja also argued for helping the state.

“Although it is true, a lot of production has left the United States, it is even worse for California,” he said on a panel. He and other studio managers said they like to film in LA, but also want to be able to film and photograph on location all over the world.

To solve the problem, California Gov. Gavin Newsom already pushed to more than double the tax credit program of California, and two accounts that go through the state legislator, would expand the types of productions that are eligible for credits.

After Trump introduced the idea of ​​film rates, he blamed Newsom for allowing the Hollywood jobs. Newsom was stated in the program in California and the stimulus increases he has already proposed. He also offered himself to help the president make a $ 7.5 billion dollars federal tax credit plan. “America remains a film powerhouse and California is completely with it to bring more production here. Building on our successful state program, we would like to collaborate with the Trump administration to further strengthen domestic production and let America again,” he said in a statement.

Despite the recent attention in keeping production in the country, market leaders in California still say that the program needs help there. Stimulating the budget of California and the revision of his tax credit program would offer a reward for productions made in the state, not a punishing rate for producing outside the US, says Pamala Buzick Kim, co-founder of a Grassroots group called Stay in LA.

The group is lobbying for improved stimuli to keep production in California.

“Many people outside of La think that if you say Hollywood, everyone is rich,” says Kim. “I wish that was the case. Only 99% of us who are in production are really your daily people of the working class.”

Kim says that Trump’s film rate idea “has definitely sent a spiral of confusion by industry and the international market, but the fact that we get attention at national level is great.”

Kim says it is important to preserve the inheritance of LA and the biggest export.

“We have generations of people who have been in this company who are in this area that are the best of the best. And we have to protect that.”