Academy Award-winning actor Jon Voight and his manager, Steven Paul, say they plan to present ideas to President Donald Trump as early as next week to help boost film and TV production in the United States.
The suggestions could include changes to the tax code, adding incentives for infrastructure incentives, and job training, while going beyond the tax credits usually offered by states, reports Bloomberg News.
“It’s important that we compete with what’s going on around the world, so there needs to be some sort of federal tax incentives,” Paul commented.
Trump in January named Voight, along with fellow actors Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone, as special ambassadors to Hollywood, which the president referred to as a great but very troubled place.”
The group is trying to address the current situation where states compete with each other to lure film productions with ever more generous tax credits. Their approach includes national initiatives that would help the U.S. win business that might have gone overseas, Paul said.
Film and TV production have been hit hard in Hollywood and nationwide, with studios cutting back while other countries solicit business through tax incentives.
