The American film industry is having a moment. Perhaps THE MOMENT! To react, repair, and rebuild an industry we created. Not the kind announced with a press release, but the kind that shows up in the numbers.
This past summer was the highest grossing in box office history, $4.76 billion domestically. "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" crossed $2.3 billion worldwide, shot largely in Glasgow, with New York City doubling for New York City. "The Odyssey," largely filmed in Greece, is on pace to become Universal's all-time highest grosser. "Obsession," a mid-budget original from Focus Features, grossed $263 million on a $17.1 million opening. "Coyote vs. Acme," a film Warner Bros. shelved as a $30 million tax write-off in 2023, opened to $15.5 million after Ketchup Entertainment gave it a real release. The audience never left. It just needed someone to show up for them.
And the fall slate is just as strong. "Avengers: Doomsday." "Dune: Part Three." "The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping." Audiences are leaning forward. The industry should be too.
That is the demand side. The supply side is a different story.
Since 2022, the U.S. has lost more than 70,000 production jobs. The work did not disappear. It moved, to the UK, to Canada, to Australia, to countries that looked at what American states built and scaled it nationally. Film and television is one of America's most powerful exports, economically and culturally. What the world watches shapes what the world thinks. We invented this industry. Other countries took our model, funded it at the national level, and are now beating us with it. The public debate treats this as a Hollywood story. It is a trade story.
California, Georgia, New York, New Mexico, and others have carried this for over 2 decades, filling a vacuum the federal government never chose to fill. California just passed AB 186 in the final hours of its legislative session to fix real structural problems in its $750 million program. Georgia remains competitive but has seen production volume fall nearly 50% from its 2022 peak. The states have held the line. They should not have had to do it alone.
That may be changing. A proposed federal production incentive, a 20% base credit on qualified labor in front of and behind the camera with additional uplifts potentially reaching 30% (scripted, non-scripted, and animation), stackable on top of state programs, has moved from rumor
to closer to reality. It has bipartisan House sponsorship and genuine momentum. Even Florida, which eliminated its statewide incentive in 2016, is seeing counties move ahead of the state. Orange County just committed $25 million over 5 years to a new local rebate program. The pressure is building from the bottom up.
The record summer proved the demand is there. A strong fall slate keeps it going. The federal policy is finally in motion.
That is the anticipation worth watching.
#FilmIndustry #ProductionIncentives #Hollywood #FilmTax #BoxOffice
