Hollywood was once a local neighborhood in Los Angeles. Now it stands for the entire entertainment industry and the system is cracking. The film business has been bleeding jobs for two decades, and no matter how many state or foreign tax perks are offered, Los Angeles has lost its role as the center of the movie world. The pandemic, the strikes, and the new streaming economy made it even harder to keep production at home.
Why film in California when Georgia, New Mexico, Britain, or Canada are dangling bigger rewards?
California Gov. Gavin Newsom tried to plug the hole by raising the state’s film and TV tax credit to $750 million. That move is meant to slow the exodus, but the problem runs deeper. President Donald Trump has taken a harder line. In a message this week he repeated his commitment to slap a 100 percent tariff on “any and all movies that are made outside of the United States.” He wrote, “Our movie making business has been stolen from the United States of America, by other Countries, just like stealing ‘candy from a baby.’”
That language rattled Hollywood. Trump has raised the idea before, and critics once again rushed to say it is unworkable. They ask whether tariffs should apply to partial productions, co-productions, or foreign films entering the U.S. They question whether movies can even be treated as “goods.” What they never seem to answer is the one question Trump keeps raising: why should American jobs be shipped abroad while American audiences still foot the bill?
Actor Jon Voight, who serves as Trump’s special ambassador to Hollywood, sought to cool nerves, noting tariffs would be used “in certain limited circumstances.” According to Voight, the administration is weighing other solutions such as rewriting the tax code, building co-production treaties that favor U.S. workers, and creating subsidies for infrastructure at home. Even so, confusion remains. Industry analysts warn about foreign retaliation, pointing out that China already restricts access for U.S. films. Others argue tariffs may be unenforceable because some productions mix both U.S. and overseas shots. Fine, but that only proves Trump’s point. If Hollywood insists it cannot survive without foreign sound stages, what does that say about how weak America has allowed its own industry to become?
Trump critics like Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California call tariffs dangerous and prefer more taxpayer-backed incentives instead. Yet history shows incentives alone have not stopped the migration. New York, Georgia and dozens of international competitors keep growing their production hubs while the United States slides. According to ProdPro, U.S. productions costing $40 million and above fell 26 percent from 2022 to 2024, while Australia and New Zealand saw a 14 percent increase. Georgia, Canada, and a string of European countries have built skilled workforces and reliable infrastructure. Canada alone has already branded itself “Hollywood North,” housing years of production for series like Supernatural, Riverdale and The Handmaid’s Tale, as well as films like Twilight and Mean Girls.
The truth is simple. Whether it is Newsom’s plan in California or tax deals in New York, states have tried to bribe Hollywood for years. More than 38 states spent over $25 billion in incentives in the last two decades, according to The New York Times. All that money shifted sound stages and jobs, but not back to Los Angeles. Instead it created a fragmented system where nearly everyone but California gained. Restaurants, hotels, and contractors in Georgia reaped the rewards. Foreign countries added healthcare subsidies, cheaper labor, and more loopholes. The global competition did not wait for Washington to figure out what to do.
The debate reveals a larger truth. If America wants to keep its own film industry, it cannot rely on Hollywood executives chasing rebates abroad. The bottom line is that movies filmed in other countries keep draining jobs from U.S. crews, carpenters, designers and small businesses. Tariffs may be controversial, but they put the spotlight on the question Congress avoids. Who benefits more: the local communities footing the bill for lost jobs, or the studio chiefs cutting costs overseas? Trump’s push forces the industry and Washington to confront whether America will actually defend its creative economy or keep letting it slip away in the name of global competition.
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English (US) · 