Jon Voight’s Proposal
Here are the highlights of Jon Voight’s proposal to bring production back to the US:
10% federal tax incentive (20% if no state tax incentive)
5-10% additional for indie films/shooting in economically depressed zones
IRS Section 181 lets you deduct up to $15M in U.S. production costs immediately. A proposal would raise the cap to $30M–$40M and extend it for 5 years.
Section 199 was a broader tax break for U.S. production, including film and music. It ended in 2017. This would bring it back with a 15% tax rate for domestic work.
Section 461 lets you apply past losses to recent profits (called a carryback). It expired in 2022. Restoring it would reduce the risk after a flop.
Protections for producers to own IP:
If streamers want global rights, they must pay producers a premium (e.g. 25% for 5 years, 40% for 10 years) and let producers keep rights after the exclusive period.
If streamers license less than global rights, producers can co-own and keep unlicensed territories.
Producers keep control of sequels, spinoffs, and copyrights (subject to contract terms).
These rules apply to all U.S.-bound streaming titles and movies not released in U.S. theaters for 8+ weeks.
This applies to content produced for theatrical distribution:
US broadcast networks
US cable channels
streaming services (including e.g., Netflix, Amazon, Disney, Apple, Peacock, Paramount+, Hulu)
digital platforms (e.g., YouTube, YouTube TV, X, Facebook)
Punitive measures:
120% tariff on any money earned from a tax incentive shooting in a foreign country
Here’s some math.
Shooting a feature film in Chicago costs $2M.
That same feature costs $1M in Poland.
Both have a 30% tax credit.
So if I shoot in Chicago, with the 30% tax credit on qualified expenditures (let’s say that’s .3x $1.5M = 450K) Plus a federal tax credit of 20% (10% federal + 10% bump becuase this is an indie) means another $400K (.2 x $2M). So total cost is $2M - $450K - $400K = $1.15M to shoot in Chicago.
If I shoot in Poland, I can get 30% tax credit (.3x $1M = $300K). But the tariff means I’m charged 120% on this = $ 360 K. So it costs me $1.06M to shoot in Poland.
Also, to qualify for the federal tax incentives, productions would have to pass a cultural test similar to what they have in the UK (e.g., a 51% majority of the above-the-line needs to be American).