KTLA 5: Rep. Friedman calls for tax credit to support film industry: 'Need to lvel the playing field

(DC Bureau) – With Congress questioning the Netflix-Warner Bros. merger in a hearing this week and the president’s push for tariffs on foreign-made films, Washington Correspondent Maddie Biertempfel sat down with former film producer-turned California Congresswoman Laura Friedman to talk about the latest issues in the entertainment industry. 

“I co-produced a movie called ‘It Takes Two’ with the Olsen twins. I worked on Angelina Jolie’s second film, ‘Foxfire.’ I was the executive producer of that. I oversaw a bunch of movies, co-produced about five feature films, and oversaw a whole slate of television and feature films,” Friedman (D-CA) explained. 

That experience, she said, has translated well to her work in Congress, where entertainment issues have recently been on the docket. 

This week, a Senate Committee grilled executives from Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery about the impact of an announced merger between the two companies.

“This merger raises numerous antitrust concerns,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) said during a hearing about the Netflix-Warner Bros. merger on Tuesday.

Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos described it as “not a typical media merger” because “we will give consumers more content for less.”

“Any large merger should be a concern, because whenever we see consolidation in any industry, we know that a couple of things happen,” Friedman (D-CA) said, adding that she is concerned about a lack of competition driving up costs for consumers, fewer productions getting made, and potential job losses. 

“My big concern for my community is what does this mean for the people who are employed? We’ve already seen a huge shrinkage in industry jobs from offshoring productions, so this is just compounding that misery in Hollywood.”

Friedman suggested the U.S., like other countries, should offer film tax credits to incentivize domestic production.

“If we care about this industry, we need to level the playing field through the same kind of tax credit that other countries are offering,” Friedman said. 

President Trump has pushed for tariffs on foreign-made films, but Friedman thinks a national film tax credit is the way to go. She hopes to find common ground with the president. 

“He has stated that this is an industry worth saving and worth investing in, an American industry. We have states that are Republican and Democrat across the country that have benefited from production. I have a lot of faith that we can work on this in a bipartisan fashion, and we’ve had successful talks so far,” Friedman said.

She called passing a film tax credit one of her top priorities in Congress.