The U.S. Congress introduced a bipartisan bill on Thursday, September 24, that would give film and television productions a federal filming tax incentive to make movies and shows in the United States — and Christopher Nolan has already called it "the most significant legislative effort in a generation to promote domestic film and television production, and the hundreds of thousands of jobs it supports."

Nolan spoke as president of the Directors Guild of America. His endorsement of the Motion Picture, Television, and Entertainment Revitalization Act signals how much the ground has shifted. For decades, advocates pushed for federal support while individual states offered increasingly aggressive tax credits — and still lost productions to entire countries subsidizing Hollywood work.

The numbers explain the urgency. A 2025 report in Prod Pro found that in the first quarter of that year, the United States' share of overall productions had fallen to 39 percent, down from 51 percent in 2022. That is a 12-point decline in three years.

What the Bill Offers

The Act provides a 20 percent base tax credit on any qualifying film or TV production with a budget of at least $1 million that shoots at least 75 percent of its principal photography within the United States. The credit includes above-the-line talent — often the biggest expense for independent productions.

Productions can earn additional bonus credits of 5 percent, up to a maximum of 30 percent, if they qualify as an indie production, work in at least 10 states, or film in a rural area or a federally declared disaster area. Los Angeles County, a federally declared disaster zone after last year's wildfires, will carry that designation for five years.

The federal credit is fully stackable on top of state credits. Canada's federal and local incentives tend to offset rather than stack. A production qualifying for the full 30 percent federal credit plus California's 35 percent base credit could recover up to 65 percent of its costs.

"It would be an absolute game-changer for the crews working in the U.S. and production companies," said Ryan Broussard, VP of Sales and Production Incentives at the production finance platform Wrapbook. "To put a federal stackable incentive on top of that is pretty monumental. The way it's written, I've never seen anything like it in terms of what it's incentivizing. To include things like above-the-line across the board…is amazing."

Broussard called the legislation "too good to be true." He noted that the bill also covers post-production, VFX work and writers — something almost no incentives do — and offers rates higher than most if not all other countries. He also highlighted that the bill aims to attract foreign production, not just retain domestic work, potentially drawing international talent to relocate.

The Projected Impact

The MPA released a study earlier this month modeling a similar federal incentive. It estimated the addition of 143,500 jobs and an extra $125 billion in production spend over the next eight years. Broussard said those numbers feel "largely accurate and believable" based on the bill's contents.

The legislation reflects years of coordination among labor unions, studios, independents, film commissioners, small businesses and lawmakers. A bill sponsored by Adam Schiff now has the backing of President Trump — a result, according to the reporting, of Jon Voight persuading the president, backing him down from his initial call for a 100 percent tariff on the film industry.

The bill is drafted strictly to incentivize compensation and job creation. Where other states offer credits for green production or other perks, this bill is about jobs. It is also designed to serve all 50 states, not just established production hubs. Mike Lebia, CEO of production finance platform Greenslate, said the bill seems especially well designed to lift state programs and will be very impactful for independent productions nationwide. In New Mexico, which offers no above-the-line credit, a federal one on top could make shooting far more viable. In South Carolina — where Republican Senator Tim Scott is a sponsor — small filming hubs could see production become viable for the first time.

"Because this is a national bill, it allows the creative decisions to drive where productions are going to go. Oftentimes incentives are really the primary factor; this will shift the power back to creative," Lebia said. "I'm hoping that will be a big factor in getting this bill across the finish line. It seems to have really strong support…and it's getting support across the spectrum and is designed to support the entire country."

Sponsors from Texas, Georgia and South Carolina have joined those from California. Convincing the rest of Congress that this is not just a coastal bill remains a hurdle.

The Clock and the Competition

The bill's backers point to its immediacy: California saw a surge of applications when it changed its production credit allowance, and studios would green light U.S. shoots almost immediately upon qualification.

Broussard raises one open question: whether other countries will respond in an arms race to keep the productions they already host. Could the UK or Ireland raise their own incentives to keep pace?

The more immediate obstacle is the calendar. This Congress has not passed anything. If the bill does not pass before the next Congress is sworn in at the top of the year, it must be reintroduced and start from scratch. Congress is out of session until the midterms, but backers are optimistic about a lame-duck passage, with the credit potentially taking effect as early as January 1, 2027.

"The average American does not fully grasp the severity of the moment and the importance of getting a bill done," said Cameron Woodward, co-founder of Wrapbook. "This allows us the capacity to maintain the industry that we've invented. Filmmakers want to film in America. I've spoken with people making a movie about America, but they are unable to make that project here because the math simply does not work. This allows us to preserve film infrastructure that we've been building for over 100 years, and if we lose it, it will be gone forever."