President Donald Trump came away from a meeting with actor Jon Voight and two Hollywood producers very supportive of a federal tax incentive for film and TV productions. Something that may have caught Trump’s attention was the explanation by one of the producers that he would be forced to shoot a planned biopic of Richard Nixon outside of the U.S. unless there was an American tax incentive.
At Monday’s meeting at the White House with Trump, actor Jon Voight — who is Trump’s “special ambassador” to Hollywood — was joined by SP Media Group chairman and CEO Steven Paul and president Scott Karol. The meeting marked the latest step in an initiative that began when President Trump asked Voight, Paul and Karol to assess the challenges facing the U.S. entertainment industry and recommend measures to restore domestic production.
During the Aug. 31 meeting, Voight, Paul and Karol told the president that the industry had reached a critical point, with thousands of workers already losing jobs as producers are increasingly turning to Canada, the U.K., Australia and other markets offering competitive incentives.
Indeed, Paul cited his upcoming film about Nixon’s early years — which he said would need to be produced overseas without a viable U.S. tax incentive.
