Donald Trump's proposal to put 100% prices on foreign films has let many filmmakers scratch their heads. But that highlighted a problem that afflicts Hollywood: the cinema quickly abandons its longtime house.
For decades, almost all the films that struck us in theaters – as well as most of what was on television – emanated from a handful of film lots in the entertainment industry in America.
The actors, cascaders, costume designers, set manufacturers, publishers and special effects were ranked in Los Angeles, where they worked with hundreds of thousands of drivers, caterers, location managers, animal managers and accessory wrestlers to produce thousands of production hours each year.
The city exploded from the 1920s because it was a city in industry with a virtual grip.
No more.
“The film industry in America dies of a very fast death,” said Trump on his social media platform this weekend.
– All time low –
The number of filming days in Los Angeles reached a hollow of all time last year – lower than during the Covid -19 pandemic, during completely closed shooting.
According to Filmla, an organization following the film industry.
“Place production in the Grand Los Angeles decreased by 22.4% from January to March 2025,” he said in a report, the production of films and television down 30% in annual shift.
The high costs of southern California – including for work – are a problem for studios, whose margins are small, especially since fewer people are ready to spend expensive cinema tickets, preferring to watch titles at home.
As the pressures on income go up, production houses turn to shooting opportunities abroad that offer them savings.
And there is no shortage of countries: Great Britain, France, Germany, Australia, Hungary, Thailand and others all offer tax incentives.
The temptation to film abroad increased only during the strike of Hollywood actors and writers in 2023, said entertainment lawyer Steve Weizenecker, who advises producers on financial incentives.
“During the strikes, I had a production that went to the United Kingdom, which went to France, Italy and Spain, because they could not shoot here,” he told AFP.
“And so the concern is now how to bring this back?”
Toronto, Vancouver, Great Britain, Central Europe and Australia are all classifying all over California as a favorite shooting locations for industry leaders.
Competition has never been so fierce: in 2024, 120 jurisdictions worldwide offered tax incentives for the production of films and television, almost 40% over seven years.
– Canada first –
Canada introduced tax relief for cinematographic and television productions in 1995.
“It was then that the term” leakage production “began to be launched because suddenly the producers did not have to shoot in California or New York,” said Weizenecker.
The success of Canada has since gave competition between dozens of American states.
Georgia, where many Marvel superhero films have been filmed, have been offering a tax credit since 2005. New Mexico, the framework of the “Breaking Bad” drug drama, did the same since 2002. And Texas, which has offered tax loss since 2007, wishes to increase its budget allocated to such funding.
“Just as Detroit has lost its grip on the automotive industry, California has lost its domination, mainly due to the arrogance of not understanding that there are still alternatives,” Bill Mechanic, former Disney, told Deadline.
State representatives, caused by the cries of Hollywood anxiety, began to take note of it late.
Last year, the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, called for legislators to double the money available for the television credit program and state films.
California currently offers a tax credit up to 25% which can be used to compensate for expenses, including the cost of hiring filming teams or buildings.
Two bills that travel the legislative assembly could increase up to 35% of skilled spending and extend the type of production that would be eligible.
Newsom reacted to Trump's pricing suggestion with a counter-proposition for a federal tax credit of $ 7.5 billion which would apply nationally.
According to George Huang, a hostile and too liberal scripting teacher, is eager or not to support an industry that he would be hostile and too liberal, but that would really help, according to George Huang, professor of scripting of the UCLA.
“Right now, the industry vacillates,” Huang told Los Angeles Times.
“This would greatly help to help the ship and put us back online to be the capital of the world of entertainment.”
RFO-HG /
