U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff will hold a field hearing in Burbank on Friday with “The Pit” star Noah Wyle, IATSE Chairman Matt Loeb and others in an effort to drum up support for federal film incentives.
Schiff is also expected to focus on the employment impact of the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger.
“From generous tax breaks in other countries to the potential merger of Hollywood’s two largest studios, entertainment industry employees face many pressures,” Schiff said in a statement.
“The Pit” is often cited as a successful example of California’s production incentives. Although the show is set in Pittsburgh, the movie was filmed on Warner Bros. property in Burbank, for which it received $24.5 million in state tax credits.
Mr. Schiff last year worked to rally sponsors in Congress for federal production incentives on top of state-level subsidies. The International Union of Theatrical Stage Employees, which represents 160,000 entertainment workers, is also a leading supporter of stronger tax incentives to maintain domestic production.
Also participating in the hearing will be Jax DeLuca, executive director of the Future Film Coalition, a group of independent film professionals. The group launched a website, BlocktheMerger.com, and sued the state attorney general for an injunction to block the Paramount-Warner Bros. deal.
Schiff argued in a press release that the U.S. film and television industry faces intense competition from foreign incentive programs.
Schiff raised the issue with Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos during a Senate hearing in February. Sarandos was on Capitol Hill to defend his company’s $83 billion deal to buy Warner Bros., which subsequently fell apart. Paramount is currently set to acquire the studio in a deal worth $111 billion.
So far, Paramount and Warner Bros. officials are not scheduled to testify at the hearing in Burbank.
“I look forward to hearing directly from industry leaders and experts about the state of the industry, what it needs to do to compete, and how this proposed agreement would impact workers as we look to ramp up film and television production in California and the United States,” Schiff said.
Jim Acosta, a former CNN correspondent who now runs an independent media platform, is also expected to testify. Acosta has been highly critical of the deal with Paramount, calling it a “MAGA-friendly” company and warning that it could result in CBS and CNN “spreading propaganda every day about how great Donald Trump is.”
