The cost of letting American production leave

At the Coalition for American Production, we know families and businesses are struggling because film and television work is leaving the United States. They need productions here to keep employees working, pay mortgages, and keep their doors open. Their ability to hold on cannot be taken for granted.

Adam Michel’s October 6 critique estimates that the proposed federal production credit could cost nearly $50 billion over a decade. Taxpayers deserve scrutiny of the cost as well as the validity of estimates like this. Congress must also examine what America loses when workers leave the industry, suppliers close, and soundstages cease operating.

Michel overlooks a central feature of the proposal: the federal credit would stack with existing state incentives, improving the combined economics of filming here. Canada, Australia, and the UK all pair national production incentives with provincial, state, or regional support. American states compete against those combined offers.

Moving a production between American states redistributes work within our country. Moving it overseas changes which country receives the wages, supplier contracts, and tax revenue. Research on competition among states cannot settle the national question.

Rudy Callegari, a CAP co-founder and co-founder of New York’s Edge Auto Rental, describes the impact reaching his employees and their families, then flowing through to local gas stations and service stations. Protecting those livelihoods is why he helped start CAP.

In rural Georgia, Ben Patel’s B.I. Production Works grew from renting two Sprinter vans to local productions into a company providing nearly 2,000 transportation vehicles nationwide. That is what production can build: businesses and livelihoods far from Hollywood.

North Hollywood’s Faux Library Studio Props closed after supplying books, antique furniture, and set dressing for more than two decades. Its 2025 liquidation auctions dispersed the inventory that made the business possible. A closed prop house cannot simply resume work when the next production arrives.

In April 2026, Quixote’s parent company announced a phased wind-down of leased soundstages and Atlanta-area operations, citing structural cost or demand disadvantages. Facilities are being withdrawn from service while workers and suppliers need projects to return.

The downturn has multiple causes, including strikes and reduced commissioning. A federal incentive cannot solve every problem. It can improve America’s competitiveness for productions choosing among locations.

Foreign competitors have the capacity to receive that investment. The British Film Institute reports £6.8 billion in UK film and high-end television production spending during 2025, including £5.8 billion from inward-investment productions.

The proposed legislation offers a 20 percent base credit tied to qualified compensation for services performed here, with conditional bonuses. Conventional live-action productions generally must conduct at least 75 percent of principal photography days in the United States.

The MPA-commissioned Olsberg–SPI study estimates that a federal incentive alongside state programs could support $249.1 billion in additional U.S. value added and approximately 143,500 full-time-equivalent jobs annually during 2027–2035. Those conditional estimates include supplier and household-spending effects. Congress should test the assumptions and measure results.

Michel’s nearly $50 billion figure is an estimate, not an official score. It treats 53 percent of all projected production spending as eligible labor, applies the maximum 30 percent credit throughout, and extends the study’s nine-year forecast to ten years. His cost-per-job calculation counts only direct production jobs, omitting the supplier and other jobs included in the study. The estimate also measures gross credits; Michel acknowledges that additional federal tax receipts could offset some cost. Congress should test these assumptions and the risk of paying for productions that would stay here anyway.

Congress should scrutinize costs and avoid unnecessary windfalls. It should also give American workers and businesses a stronger chance to win projects going abroad.

Families cannot wait indefinitely for the next paycheck. Businesses cannot retain employees without contracts. Once facilities change uses and experienced workers leave, rebuilding becomes harder. Congress should advance a competitive, accountable federal incentive while the people and businesses needed to make it succeed are still here.

The Coalition for American Production (CAP) is a national nonprofit alliance of production companies, studios, vendors, workers, and industry partners advocating for film and television production in the United States.

Thank you, Jackie Stolfi

The Coalition for American Production owes Jackie Stolfi a debt of gratitude. As Executive Director East Coast, Jackie gave countless hours to CAP and to the broader film and television industry. Much of that work happened behind the scenes: organizing people, building trust, running meetings, moving information, keeping members engaged, and making sure the coalition kept pushing forward.

CAP exists because the American film and television industry is facing a real challenge. Production is moving overseas. Jobs, vendors, local businesses, and creative work are being pulled away from communities across the United States. Jackie understood the urgency from the beginning and gave her time, judgment, and energy to help build a serious advocacy effort.

Jackie brought more than passion to the work. She brought the discipline of a producer.

Her career spans film, television, new media, independent film, animation, pilots, series, features, and festival work. She has produced more than 250 hours of content and worked on projects screened at Tribeca, Woodstock, SXSW, Vancouver, and other festivals. That background made her especially effective at CAP. She knows what it takes to get a project made, what is at risk when production leaves the country, and why this issue matters to crew, vendors, small businesses, and communities that depend on this industry.

She also knows how to get people moving.

Jackie helped turn concern into action. She helped build CAP’s presence, support its members, coordinate advocacy, and keep the coalition focused on the federal policy solution our industry needs. Her work strengthened the push for a federal film and television production incentive that can keep more jobs, investment, and creative production in the United States.

Coalition work depends on people who answer the calls, make the connections, solve problems before they become visible, and keep showing up. Jackie did all of that.

As Jackie steps away from CAP to focus on her next opportunity, we want to say thank you.

Thank you for believing in this fight. Thank you for giving your time and talent to CAP. Thank you for standing up for the workers, businesses, and communities that make American film and television possible.

Any organization will be lucky to have Jackie on its team. She is a producer, organizer, advocate, and problem-solver with the rare ability to move creative people, business leaders, and policymakers toward a shared goal.

CAP is stronger because of Jackie’s work. The industry is better because she showed up.

Please join us in thanking Jackie Stolfi for her service to CAP and wishing her well in her next chapter.

And to everyone who believes film and television production should stay in the United States: Jackie helped build this effort. Now it is on all of us to keep it going.

Small Steps Create Big Shifts

Confidence doesn’t always arrive with a bold entrance. Sometimes, it builds quietly, step by step, as we show up for ourselves day after day. It grows when we choose to try, even when we’re unsure of the outcome. Every time you take action despite self-doubt, you reinforce the belief that you’re capable. Confidence isn’t about having all the answers — it’s about trusting that you can figure it out along the way.

The key to making things happen isn’t waiting for the perfect moment; it’s starting with what you have, where you are. Big goals can feel overwhelming when viewed all at once, but momentum builds through small, consistent action. Whether you’re working toward a personal milestone or a professional dream, progress comes from showing up — not perfectly, but persistently. Action creates clarity, and over time, those steps forward add up to something real.

You don’t need to be fearless to reach your goals, you just need to be willing. Willing to try, willing to learn, and willing to believe that you’re capable of more than you know. The road may not always be smooth, but growth rarely is. What matters most is that you keep going, keep learning, and keep believing in the version of yourself you’re becoming.

Turn Intention Into Action

Confidence doesn’t always arrive with a bold entrance. Sometimes, it builds quietly, step by step, as we show up for ourselves day after day. It grows when we choose to try, even when we’re unsure of the outcome. Every time you take action despite self-doubt, you reinforce the belief that you’re capable. Confidence isn’t about having all the answers — it’s about trusting that you can figure it out along the way.

The key to making things happen isn’t waiting for the perfect moment; it’s starting with what you have, where you are. Big goals can feel overwhelming when viewed all at once, but momentum builds through small, consistent action. Whether you’re working toward a personal milestone or a professional dream, progress comes from showing up — not perfectly, but persistently. Action creates clarity, and over time, those steps forward add up to something real.

You don’t need to be fearless to reach your goals, you just need to be willing. Willing to try, willing to learn, and willing to believe that you’re capable of more than you know. The road may not always be smooth, but growth rarely is. What matters most is that you keep going, keep learning, and keep believing in the version of yourself you’re becoming.

Make Room for Growth

Confidence doesn’t always arrive with a bold entrance. Sometimes, it builds quietly, step by step, as we show up for ourselves day after day. It grows when we choose to try, even when we’re unsure of the outcome. Every time you take action despite self-doubt, you reinforce the belief that you’re capable. Confidence isn’t about having all the answers — it’s about trusting that you can figure it out along the way.

The key to making things happen isn’t waiting for the perfect moment; it’s starting with what you have, where you are. Big goals can feel overwhelming when viewed all at once, but momentum builds through small, consistent action. Whether you’re working toward a personal milestone or a professional dream, progress comes from showing up — not perfectly, but persistently. Action creates clarity, and over time, those steps forward add up to something real.

You don’t need to be fearless to reach your goals, you just need to be willing. Willing to try, willing to learn, and willing to believe that you’re capable of more than you know. The road may not always be smooth, but growth rarely is. What matters most is that you keep going, keep learning, and keep believing in the version of yourself you’re becoming.