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President Trump's idea to impose a 100% tariff on films made outside the United States has been a hot topic all week in Hollywood. And as NPR's Mandalit del Barco reports, it has put a spotlight on efforts to bring productions back to California.
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MANDALIT DEL BARCO, BYLINE: Once upon a time in Hollywood, movie soundstages buzzed with film and TV productions, and you'd find crews on location everywhere in LA.
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UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST: (Singing) Hooray for Hollywood.
DEL BARCO: But on-location production has been plummeting. The nonprofit group FilmLA, which issues film permits in the area, found there were 30% fewer TV and feature film shoots in the first quarter of 2025 than the same time last year, which was already a low point. And LA soundstages were only 63% full last year.
PHILIP SOKOLOSKI: People in this business in California describe this as an existential moment.
DEL BARCO: FilmLA spokesman Philip Sokoloski says productions have still not rebounded from the COVID-19 pandemic and delays resulting from the Hollywood writers' and performers' strikes. But also studios and streamers are just not ordering as many shows.
SOKOLOSKI: And with less work to go around, the competition for what's left has intensified.
DEL BARCO: Industry insiders say it's been heart-wrenching to see states like Georgia, New York and Louisiana and countries like Canada and the U.K. offer productions more incentives than California does.
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RAVI AHUJA: So while it's true, so a lot of production has left the United States, it's even worse for California.
DEL BARCO: Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO and President Ravi Ahuja was in Beverly Hills Wednesday on a panel for the Milken Institute's Global Conference, along with other studio executives who say they like filming in LA. But California's tax credit program needs updating, said Casey Bloys, the chairman and CEO of HBO and Max Content.
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CASEY BLOYS: The talent is here. The infrastructure is here. We have a number of shows, including "Hacks," that are shooting here. But the issue becomes when you're trying to plan, you have to get into a lottery, and you're not sure if your show is going to get the tax break or not.
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DEL BARCO: Productions in LA have changed so much since 1928, when a silent film actor and director named Mack Sennett transformed a lettuce ranch into what's now known as Radford Studio Center.
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DEL BARCO: In the 1990s, the hit TV show "Seinfeld" was taped here at Sound Stage 9.
ZACH SOKOLOFF: This stage has a ton of positive juju, Mandalit. People love to film on Stage 9, channeling the success of "Seinfeld."
DEL BARCO: Zach Sokoloff is senior vice president at Hackman Capital Partners, which manages Radford Studio Center. On the day we visit, Sound Stage 9 is quiet, so we ride in a golf cart to a backlot that was made to look like a New York City neighborhood.
SOKOLOFF: You've got the balcony here where Jerry threw the marbled rye.
DEL BARCO: Sokoloff explains that Radford built this New York backlot for "Seinfeld" in 1994, after a massive 6.7-magnitude earthquake rocked LA and the studio.
SOKOLOFF: There was trepidation about remaining in LA, and so what we decided was to bring New York to the production as opposed to having the production go back to New York.
DEL BARCO: Building a replica New York City is what it took to convince "Seinfeld" to stay in California. But soon, other states and countries began offering tax credits, rebates and grants to shoot and film in their areas.
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DEL BARCO: After the hit show "Ugly Betty" relocated to New York to take advantage of that state's tax credits, California finally began offering incentives. In fact, the 2009 legislation was nicknamed the Ugly Betty Bill. Fast forward to today, after Trump introduced the idea of movie tariffs, California Governor Gavin Newsom volunteered to help the president craft a $7.5 billion federal tax credit plan. The governor has already been pushing to more than double California's tax credit program, and two bills going through the state legislature would expand the types of productions that are eligible for credits.
PAMALA BUZICK KIM: We have generations of people who have been in this business, who are in this area, who are the best of the best, and we need to protect that.
DEL BARCO: Pamala Buzick Kim is a co-leader of a grassroots group called Stay in LA. She says expanding tax credits would offer a reward, not a punishment like Trump's tariffs. Still, she's grateful for the conversation.
BUZICK KIM: I mean, it definitely sent a spiral of confusion through the industry and through the international market. But the fact that we are getting attention at a national level is great.
DEL BARCO: Like so many others in this industry town, she hopes Hollywood can make a comeback. Mandalit del Barco, NPR News, Los Angeles. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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