Thursday’s news: an introduction — not a draft rumor, not a study
On Thursday, September 24, 2026, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced the Motion Picture, Television, and Entertainment Revitalization Act, which would create the first federal film and television production tax credit. Introduction puts a proposal in the congressional hopper. It does not make the credit law, fund it, get it scored by the Joint Committee on Taxation, or put it on a Broward stage rate card.
This time the numbers come from the bill. Rep. Laura Friedman’s office posted the full bill text, stamped September 24, 2026, which would add Section 45BB to the Internal Revenue Code. It sets a 20% base credit on qualified compensation, raised in 5-percentage-point steps to a hard ceiling of 30%. The credit is transferable, excludes residuals, and would apply to productions whose principal photography begins in tax years starting after December 31, 2026. The H.R. number on the posted text is still blank.
For stage owners, producers, crew shops, post and VFX houses, landlords, and vendors along the Palm Beach–Broward–Miami-Dade corridor, the question is practical. If this text becomes statute, what can you honestly model in a state that has had no statewide production credit since 2016? And how does it stack against Film Lauderdale county rebates and Florida’s entertainment industry sales-tax exemption under §288.1258? One uplift in the bill, for federally declared disaster areas, speaks directly to a hurricane-exposed region.
This is an underwriting map, not a Capitol horse race. For earlier context, see Federal Floor, Florida Gap, the MPA study / coalition SoFla stages brief, and Why Florida Fell Behind on Film.
Who put the bill forward — and what the text contains
Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter report that the bill is led in the House by Rep. Laura Friedman (D-CA), Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R-TX), Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-CA), and Rep. Brian Jack (R-GA), and in the Senate by Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC). Deadline lists additional House backers: Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA), Rep. David Kustoff (R-TN), Rep. Mike Carey (R-OH), and Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY).
The eligibility screen is written into §45BB(b). A qualifying production is a feature film, television pilot, or television season (at least four episodes, treated as one production) made for commercial purposes. Its total cost must exceed $1,000,000, and 75% of its principal photography days must occur in the United States.
It is a labor credit. Under §45BB(c), “qualified compensation” is pay for U.S. services by actors, directors, producers, and production personnel, a group that expressly includes writers, composers, camera operators, set designers, lighting and sound technicians, make-up artists, editors, and visual-effects providers. Pre-production and post-production services count, and so does pay routed through contractors and subcontractors. Participations and residuals are excluded. Stage rent, equipment rentals, and catering are not compensation, so they do not generate federal credit on their own.
The exclusions in §45BB(b)(2) are specific: talk, game, and award shows; news; live sports; daytime drama; social-media content; advertising and brand campaigns; and corporate or institutional video, among others. Separate rules in §45BB(e) and (f) open a lane for post-production and VFX work on titles that miss the 75% U.S. shooting test, provided 75% of the post or VFX cost is incurred in the United States. Miami and Fort Lauderdale finishing houses should read that provision first.
Uplift mechanics: what the bill text says
Early trade accounts of the uplift menu differed; the text settles it. Section 45BB(d) starts at 20% and adds 5 percentage points for each of four tests, capped at 30%.
Rural opportunity zones or disaster areas, §45BB(d)(2). A production earns 5 points if at least 30% of its principal photography days are in a rural qualified opportunity zone or in a federally declared disaster area. For the disaster path, principal photography must begin within five years of the date the President determined assistance was warranted under the Stafford Act. As drafted, the rural test applies only to the opportunity-zone path.
Independent producers, §45BB(d)(3). Five points go to productions completed by a producer that is not publicly traded and is not majority-owned by one. Privately held South Florida production companies would start here.
Multi-state producers, §45BB(d)(4). A taxpayer earns 5 points on all qualifying productions completed in a year if, in each of 10 or more states, at least one of its productions shot at least 50% of its principal photography days there and it paid at least $10 million in qualified compensation there, measured over a trailing window. That is studio-scale math, but Florida can be one of the ten.
Increased domestic production, §45BB(d)(5). A company with a record of foreign shoots earns 5 points if its count of completed U.S. productions rises by a set share of that foreign baseline, stepping from 30% to 50% over three years. It rewards studios that bring shoots home.
Here is why the disaster path matters in South Florida. FEMA’s declaration records list Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade as designated counties under major disaster declaration DR-4834-FL (Hurricane Milton), declared October 11, 2024. Read literally, a first shoot day before October 2029 falls inside that window. The same counties appear under DR-4673-FL (Hurricane Ian), declared September 29, 2022, and DR-4680-FL (Hurricane Nicole), declared December 13, 2022, windows that close in late 2027. Broward alone is also designated under DR-4709-FL, the flooding declared April 27, 2023, which runs to April 2028.
Because the credit starts with shoots in tax years beginning after 2026, Milton offers the longest runway. That is a reading of introduced text, not a ruling; Treasury guidance could refine which designations count. Before quoting the uplift to a producer, look up the county on FEMA’s disaster declarations database, note the declaration number and date, and count five years forward from that date to the planned first day of principal photography.
Transferability, effective date, scoring — what is settled and what is not
On transferability the text is plain. Section 2(b) adds the credit to the list that can be sold for cash under IRC §6418, the transfer market built for clean-energy credits. Section 2(c) makes it a general business credit under §38. The text contains no refundability provision. For independents without a large tax bill, that buyer market is what turns the credit into financing.
The effective date is also written down. The amendments apply to productions whose principal photography commences in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2026. For a calendar-year company, that means shoots starting January 1, 2027 or later. The text reduces the production’s tax basis by the credit and lets Treasury require reporting on shoot-day dates, locations, and pay. As introduced, it sets no dollar cap and no sunset; the only ceiling is the 30% rate.
Still open: an H.R. number, committee referral, a Senate bill number, a JCT score, and Treasury guidance. Deadline reports the House is in recess through the midterms, and Sen. Schiff told reporters the goal is the lame-duck session, possibly attached to a major funding bill. MPA Chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin called the bill “a true gamechanger for American creators, workers, and businesses.” Introduction is not enactment.
What changed today for Florida owners
Three things moved. First, status: this is no longer a circulating draft but introduced text with section numbers, so your tracker should flip to “bill number, markup, and JCT watch.” Second, producers now have a statutory first filter, and post and VFX houses have their own lane. Third, the buyer conversation changes: location managers will ask Florida facilities how they document U.S. compensation by shoot day and location, which counties carry live disaster declarations, and whether a facility one-pager still implies a statewide stack Florida does not have.
What did not move: Florida still has no statewide production credit since the 2016 sunset of its prior program, a gap mapped in the Gazette’s Why Florida Fell Behind on Film. “World’s best stack” language, which consultants quoted in Variety applied to Georgia, California, and New York, is still competitor-state math. And county rebates plus the sales-tax exemption remain the Florida tools you can put on a deal memo now.
Florida-honest stack: three models, one rule
Keep the rule simple: do not sell Model A as the competitor model.
Model A — Broward-eligible Florida stack (if federal credit is enacted):
Federal labor credit (20% base, up to 30% with uplifts, if enacted as introduced) + Film Lauderdale county performance rebate if awarded + Florida Film in Florida sales-and-use tax exemption on qualifying equipment (§288.1258) + logistics, permits, crew.
Model B — Florida without a county rebate fit:
Federal-only (if enacted) + sales-tax exemption where equipment qualifies + permits/crew/stage days.
Competitor model — what Georgia / New York / California shoppers can advertise if federal passes:
Federal (if enacted) + statewide credit already on those states’ program pages. That is the dual stack Florida cannot print until Tallahassee restores a statewide instrument. See Federal Floor, Florida Gap for the earlier draft-era framing of the same gap.
Film Lauderdale menu owners can still underwrite today
Broward’s published Film Lauderdale incentive page remains the clearest county toolkit in South Florida. These are performance-based rebates paid after verified local spend and hires. They are not upfront cash or a state tax credit. Check live rates and caps on filmlauderdale.org before you quote them into a bid. As published:
- TV Commercial Attraction: 15% rebate; about $400,000 minimum Broward spend; cap about $175,000.
- Film & TV: 20% rebate; about $400,000 minimum; cap about $800,000.
- High Impact Film & TV: 20% rebate; about $5 million minimum; cap about $2 million.
- Partial Project: 20% rebate; about $1.5 million minimum; cap about $500,000; minimum five production days in Broward.
- Scripted Series: 25% rebate; about $12 million minimum; cap about $5 million; full-season / distribution gates apply.
- Multiple Project Guarantee: 30% rebate; about $4 million per project / $8 million aggregate across at least two projects; cap about $2.5 million per project.
- Emerging Filmmakers Grant: $10,000 with required $10,000 match; Broward-resident criteria; applications may be submitted starting October 1, 2026. See the Gazette’s reopen brief.
One exclusion clash matters. The federal bill excludes advertising and brand-campaign productions, and a TV spot is not a feature, pilot, or season. Broward’s TV Commercial Attraction program still exists as a county tool. Do not tell a commercial producer that a federal labor credit will cover a brand spot. Do tell them Broward’s commercial rebate and the sales-tax certificate path may still matter on local spend.
Palm Beach and Miami-Dade shoots need the same honesty. Do not invent a Broward-style cash rebate where the published toolkit is permits, locations, or a differently structured county fund. Price logistics and crew density without imaginary statewide cells.
Sales-tax exemption: stackable, not a labor credit
Qualified production companies can still pursue Florida’s sales-and-use tax exemption on qualifying production equipment purchases and leases through the Department of Revenue’s Film in Florida program, anchored in §288.1258, Florida Statutes. DOR publishes 90-day and 12-month certificate categories, with Florida-based renewal paths. The Gazette’s owner how-to remains live: Florida entertainment industry sales-tax exemption. That exemption can sit beside a county rebate and, if enacted, a federal labor credit. It is not a labor credit and does not become “Florida’s 20%.”
What stage, crew, producer, and vendor owners should do this week
1) Save the bill text and track the number. Keep the posted PDF on file and assign one person to watch congress.gov for bill numbers, referral, and markup. Label every rate in your models “as introduced.”
2) Rebuild the two Florida bid models with the statutory filter. Screen first: feature, pilot, or four-plus-episode season? Total cost over $1 million? At least 75% of shoot days in the U.S.? Clear of the §45BB(b)(2) exclusions? Then layer Model A or Model B. Keep Film Lauderdale paperwork audit-ready using the Gazette’s Broward incentives map.
3) Build a shoot-day and payroll ledger now. The base test and every uplift turn on shoot days, where they happen, and pay by state. Ask your payroll company whether it can export shoot-day county and contractor pay by project; that ledger would also support a disaster-area uplift.
4) Check disaster declarations county by county. Before promising a producer a 25% federal rate, pull the county’s FEMA declaration and run the five-year count against the first shoot day. Keep the record in the bid file.
5) Update facility one-pagers without promising unpassed rates. Sell crew depth, tri-county vendors, stage power and wrap space, certificate-ready rental houses, and county rebate fluency. Leave “20% federal,” “30% with uplifts,” and “world’s best stack” off the Florida rate card.
6) Keep local cash-flow lanes open while Washington works. Broward creators should assemble Emerging Filmmakers match paperwork for the October 1, 2026 window. Studio projects such as Fort Lauderdale’s Buffalo FilmWorks still count as tourable inventory, not a statewide credit substitute.
7) Write reopeners into long-lead deals, and ask practical questions. Bills change before passage, so tie any federal assumption to enacted text. Ask Film Florida and county film offices how they will counsel location managers on federal documentation if a credit passes. For the state debate, see Florida film incentive discussions — details matter.
Where South Florida owners stand while the bill moves
The Motion Picture, Television, and Entertainment Revitalization Act is introduced and its text is public. As drafted, it offers a 20% credit on U.S. qualified compensation, rising in 5-point steps to 30%, with a $1 million cost floor, a 75% U.S. shoot-day test, and transferability. It has no H.R. number yet and is not law.
Florida’s underwriting reality did not change with the headline. There is still no statewide credit, so the “best stack on the planet” line remains competitor-state math. The disaster-area uplift could favor the tri-county market if declarations, shoot timing, and the language all hold. Prepare federal-only eligibility if it is enacted, layered onto Film Lauderdale and other local tools plus the §288.1258 exemption, with clean ledgers and no unpassed percentages on a South Florida rate card.
Key Facts for Owners and Search
Status (as of Sep 24, 2026)
- Motion Picture, Television, and Entertainment Revitalization Act introduced Sept. 24, 2026; text posted by Rep. Laura Friedman’s office.
- Not enacted. H.R. number blank on posted text; no JCT score yet.
- House leads: Reps. Laura Friedman (D-CA), Nathaniel Moran (R-TX), Linda Sánchez (D-CA), Brian Jack (R-GA). Senate: Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC). Additional backers per Deadline: Reps. Judy Chu (D-CA), David Kustoff (R-TN), Mike Carey (R-OH), Tom Suozzi (D-NY).
Bill text (proposed IRC §45BB)
- Rate: 20% of qualified compensation, raised 5 points per uplift, capped at 30% (§45BB(d)(1)).
- Eligible: feature film, TV pilot, or TV season (4+ episodes); total cost over $1,000,000; 75% of principal photography days in the U.S. (§45BB(b)(1)).
- Qualified compensation: U.S. services by cast, directors, producers, and crew, incl. contractors; residuals and participations excluded (§45BB(c)).
- Uplifts (+5 each): 30%+ of shoot days in a rural opportunity zone or federally declared disaster area, first shoot day within 5 years of declaration (§45BB(d)(2)); independent producer (d)(3); 10+ states (d)(4); increased domestic production (d)(5).
- Post/VFX: standalone lanes when 75% of post or VFX cost is U.S.-incurred (§45BB(e)–(f)).
- Excluded: talk, game, award shows; news; live sports; radio; galas; daytime drama; social media; advertising; fundraising; corporate/institutional (§45BB(b)(2)).
- Transferable under IRC §6418 (bill §2(b)); no refundability provision.
- Effective: principal photography commencing in taxable years beginning after Dec. 31, 2026 (bill §2(e)).
FEMA declarations covering the tri-county area (fema.gov records)
- All three counties: DR-4834 (Milton, Oct. 11, 2024); DR-4680 (Nicole, Dec. 13, 2022); DR-4673 (Ian, Sept. 29, 2022).
- Broward: DR-4709 (flooding, Apr. 27, 2023).
Florida stack reality
- No statewide production credit since 2016. See Why Florida Fell Behind.
- Live tools: Film Lauderdale county rebates (Gazette map) + Film in Florida sales-tax exemption, §288.1258 (Gazette how-to).
- “World’s best stack” = federal + state competitor math (GA/CA/NY), not a Florida deliverable today.
Related Gazette coverage
- https://www.sundazegazette.com/federal-film-credit-florida-stages-stacking-gap-2026/
- https://www.sundazegazette.com/federal-film-incentive-mpa-study-coalition-sofla-stages-sep-2026/
- https://www.sundazegazette.com/why-florida-fell-behind-on-film-bring-production-back-2026/
- https://www.sundazegazette.com/federal-film-incentive-florida-owner-benefit-now-sep-2026/
Primary outbound sources
- Bill text (Friedman): https://friedman.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/friedman.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/the-motion-picture-television-and-entertainment-revitalization-act-text.pdf
- Deadline intro: https://deadline.com/2026/09/federal-film-incentive-bill-introduced-1237112724/
- THR intro: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/politics-news/federal-film-tv-tax-credit-officially-introduced-1236708907/
- Variety intro: https://variety.com/2026/film/news/lawmakers-federal-film-incentive-introduced-1236873572/
- FEMA declarations: https://www.fema.gov/disaster/declarations
- Film Lauderdale incentives: https://filmlauderdale.org/film-television-incentive-programs/
- FDOR Film in Florida: https://floridarevenue.com/taxes/taxesfees/Pages/film_in_florida.aspx
Owner search strings
- federal film tax credit introduced September 2026
- Motion Picture Television Entertainment Revitalization Act
- Section 45BB film television production credit
- 20% federal film labor credit Florida stack
- federal film credit disaster area uplift Florida
- Film Lauderdale rebate tiers Broward
- Florida film sales tax exemption 288.1258
