Steven Paul Talks U.S. Production Incentive And “Uplifts” To Sweeten Deal As Draft Legislation Takes Shape

A U.S. tax credit for film and television production is circling four potential uplifts of 5% each — for economically depressed areas; independent films; repatriating films to the U.S.; and shooting in multiple U.S. jurisdictions.

“Those are the four being talked about,” says producer Steven Paul, who’s been working with President Donald Trump’s Ambassador to Hollywood Jon Voight and lawmakers and industry groups on the bipartisan legislation aimed at curbing runaway production.

The base tax credit is set at 20% up to a maximum of 30%, so individual productions would be limited to two uplifts, says Paul, who spoke with Deadline after a sweeping alliance called the U.S. Film & TV Production Coalition launched yesterday with a new study forecasting a major jump in job creation and production spend Stateside if the incentive passes.

The legislation is still evolving and it’s not certain what the final version will include.

Paul says the ‘independent’ designation could apply to films produced by a non-publicly traded entity or an affiliate of a non-publicly traded entity. Major studio parent companies are all publicly traded.

On repatriation, he says, “We don’t know exactly how the mechanics would work … but if you’re a producer or a studio that shot a certain number of films abroad, and you bring a certain number back, you would get a 5% uptick. Also, potentially, a 5% uptick for shooting in multiple jurisdictions within a certain time, period, so you don’t just plant yourself in Georgia or New Jersey or Los Angeles and only shoot there.”

“We had recommended a 5% uptick for shooting in a federally declared [FEMA] disaster zone. That may live on or may be replaced with enterprise zones or economically depressed areas,” he says.

Backers had drafted the basics of the bill last year and it informed a study by consultancy Olsberg SPI commissioned by the Motion Picture Association and released yesterday. It calculated the federal incentive would create 143,50 jobs across the country each year on average between 2027 and 2035 on $125.3 billion in additional production spending. It forecst the U.S. share of global production would increase to 65% (by 2030 for film and 2032 for TV) instead of continuing to decline.

Paul spoke to Deadline juts before lifting off on Virgin Atlantic flight to London “to film a movie that should be filmed in America, which is why we’re working so hard on this. We’re about to make a movie about a young Richard Nixon, a presidential of the United States, and that movie should be shot here on U.S. soil. But I’m shooting it overseas because I have to, because of tax incentives over there. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to make the movie.”

Timing is tight with the House in recess starting today until after the midterms with the Senate following shortly. Lawmakers can work from afar, however, and Deadline hears draft legislation may be ready this week or next. Backers hope to pass it by the end of the year.

President Trump has endorsed the incentive publicly and privately. Earlier today, bipartisan House lawmakers announced the formation of the American Film & TV Production Caucus with founding members Rep. Brian Jack (R-GA), Rep. Laura Friedman (D-CA), Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R-TX), Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-CA), Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) and Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY).

The Wall Street Journal has slammed the tax credit in an editorial titled Handouts For Hollywood—Really?

“Representatives making sure that there’s something that’s beneficial to their constituents, and that it can be paid for, that it’s economically viable, right? I think those are the things you’re going to hear both from the left and the right” as the legislation works its way through Congress, says Paul.

“That’s why we were waiting for this Oldberg report, so we had numbers to back what we already knew. That this benefits all 50 states. That this is something that’s good for all of America.”