{"id":5734,"date":"2026-07-14T09:05:40","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T04:05:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=5734"},"modified":"2026-07-14T09:05:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T04:05:40","slug":"david-ellison-backing-bipartisan-federal-film-tax-incentive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=5734","title":{"rendered":"David Ellison Backing Bipartisan Federal Film Tax Incentive"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/t\/paramount\/\" id=\"auto-tag_paramount\" data-tag=\"paramount\">Paramount<\/a> Skydance CEO <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/t\/david-ellison\/\" id=\"auto-tag_david-ellison\" data-tag=\"david-ellison\">David Ellison<\/a> has been quietly backing a bill to launch a federal film tax incentive, with lawmaker support on both sides of the aisle, multiple sources told <em>Variety<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tEllison has spent at least six months in exploratory meetings for the proposed legislation, two sources added, and on Monday evening was present in Washington, D.C. to break bread with top Republican leadership, where the matter will be discussed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tNames of politicians from both parties involved in the bill were not immediately available. More than one source noted the irony of Ellison\u2019s Monday night meeting occurring the same day that a group of state attorneys general filed suit to block the mogul\u2019s acquisition of Warner Bros. (his general counsel, Makan Delrahim, is at his side in D.C.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tA federal film tax incentive would provide significant financial relief to content producers fleeing the U.S. for rebates around the world. A federal program would also sweeten the deal in Hollywood\u2019s home state of California, whose AG Rob Bonta is leading the charge on the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2026\/film\/news\/paramount-warner-bros-merger-states-lawsuit-1236806824\/\">searing antitrust lawsuit<\/a> waged today against Ellison over Warner Bros. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tHollywood\u2019s labor unions \u2014 including the DGA, IATSE and SAG-AFTRA \u2014 have also taken up the mantle on a federal incentive. In its just-negotiated contract, the DGA stipulated that top studio execs must participate in lobbying for more favorable domestic filming incentives.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tCalifornia has a TV and film tax credit <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2025\/film\/news\/california-750-million-film-tax-credit-approved-1236442843\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">worth $750 million<\/a>, but no such program exists on the national level.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tBonta, along with a coalition of 12 other states, alleged in their antitrust suit that the $111 billion merger between the two legacy studios violates the Clayton Act by weakening competition in three markets: wide-release theatrical distribution, \u201ctop-grossing\u201d theatrical distribution, and basic cable licensing. If Paramount and Warner Bros. merged, the suit argues, the combined company would control 27% of the wide-release theatrical distribution market, 30% of the submarket comprising \u201canticipated blockbuster films\u201d and 27% of the basic cable bundle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t\u201cThe unlawful merger of these two entertainment behemoths would lead to higher prices, lower quality, and less content for film and television, harming movie theaters, basic cable distributors, and ultimately, audiences on every sofa and movie theater seat in the U.S.,\u201d Bonta said in a statement on Monday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tParamount, of course, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2026\/tv\/news\/paramount-blasts-state-ags-lawsuit-warner-bros-deal-1236809840\/\">fired back with a scathing statement<\/a> after the suit was filed. The company said in the statement, \u201cThe lawsuit filed by the state attorneys general, in the most generous light, reflects a fundamentally flawed application of the antitrust laws and is wrong on both the facts and the law. Delaying this transaction will only harm entertainment workers who have already suffered over recent years as technology has disrupted their livelihood and cost California tens of thousands of entertainment jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2026\/tv\/news\/doj-approves-paramount-warner-bros-discovery-merger-1236780234\/\">The Department of Justice<\/a> already approved the deal in March, essentially clearing the way for Ellison to complete his plans for a combined Paramount-Warner Bros. Hollywood unions and stars have not been keen on the transaction, and fear an already struggling Hollywood could be further pushed underwater by a historically ineffective tactic of mega-merging two media behemoths.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tPolitico\u2019s Daniel Miller was <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DanielNMiller\/status\/2076809835124031947?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">the first to report<\/a> Ellison\u2019s interest in the federal film incentive.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has been quietly backing a bill to launch a federal film tax incentive, with lawmaker support on both sides of the aisle, multiple sources told Variety. Ellison has spent at least six months in exploratory meetings for the proposed legislation, two sources added, and on Monday evening was present in&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/variety.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/David-Ellison-Paramount.jpg?crop=0px%2C123px%2C3934px%2C2213px&resize=1000%2C563","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}