Actor Noah Wyle joined Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California, at a hearing Friday in Burbank examining challenges facing the American film and television industry, including foreign tax incentives and proposed media consolidation.
The hearing, titled “Lights, Camera, Competition: Promoting American Film Production,” brought together industry leaders, labor representatives and policymakers.
Wyle, a Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning actor best known for his role on the long-running television drama “ER,” currently stars in “The Pitt” and has been active in industry and labor advocacy efforts.
“As an Angelino, with generational roots to this city and as a seasoned member of its creative community, advocacy for Los Angeles-based production is something that is very close to my heart,” Wyle said at the hearing. “Over the last six years, the aggregate effect of projects leaving the state in search of tax credits, the pandemic and last year’s fires has been a near-cratering of our once thriving industry.”
Wyle said Los Angeles County lost roughly 42,000 film and television jobs between 2022 and 2024, while high-budget productions dropped about 43% last year. He noted that filming in Los Angeles has become increasingly difficult and expensive, often requiring producers to rely heavily on state tax incentives to make projects financially viable.
Wyle testified alongside union officials, researchers and journalists, as well as members of Congress including Rep. Laura Friedman, D-Glendale, and Rep. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana.
The discussion focused on overseas incentives that have drawn production away from California and the United States.
“This is not a Hollywood backlot story. It’s a main street story. It’s the story of an industry delivering America’s greatest cultural export to audiences around the world,” Schiff said at the hearing. “It’s also an industry that has faced very real challenges over the last few years. Even as the industry has tried to find its footing following a global pandemic, production has continued to migrate away from Los Angeles and, indeed, away from the United States of America.”
Schiff said the industry faces “many pressures,” including the potential merger involving Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery.
“This merger must be subject to the highest levels of scrutiny to determine its impact on American jobs, freedom of speech, and the future of one of our nation’s greatest exports,” Schiff said in a statement.
Schiff said he has been working on bipartisan legislation to create a federal film tax incentive modeled after state programs such as California’s, aimed at boosting domestic production and retaining jobs.