Hilton: Uncap California's $750M Film Subsidy
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- Steve Hilton, the Trump-endorsed California governor candidate, proposed eliminating the $750 million cap on state film and TV subsidies at the shuttered Cinerama Dome, calling Hollywood's decline an "emergency" after 16 years of Democratic rule
- Tom Steyer, a leading Democratic contender, wants to raise but not eliminate the cap; his spokesperson called Hilton a "rubber stamp" for mega-mergers and highlighted Steyer's opposition to the pending Paramount-Warner Bros. deal
- San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa have also called for killing the cap, but Mahan dismissed Hilton's plan as "promises even he knows he can't keep"
- Hilton's proposal would expand California's current 35%-40% below-the-line credit to cover above-the-line salaries for actors, directors, writers, and producers, and pursue a combined 60% state-federal rebate — leaning on his ties to the Motion Picture Association, Hollywood labor unions, and Jon Voight, Trump's special ambassador to Hollywood
- Georgia remains the only major production hub with an uncapped credit — 30% of above- and below-the-line costs — which peaked at $1.3 billion in 2022 before falling to roughly half during the industrywide slump
- California's production workforce is roughly eight to 10 times the size of Georgia's, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data cited in the report
Why it matters: If enacted, Hilton's plan would make California the second major production hub after Georgia to offer an uncapped film tax credit, with a combined state-federal rebate of 60% — a direct competitive response to states poaching productions. With Hilton the GOP frontrunner, the proposal turns the governor's race into a referendum on how aggressively to subsidize an industry whose California workforce is roughly eight to 10 times Georgia's, per BLS data.
