Tom Cruise and the Push for a U.S. Film Incentive at AFM
A proposed federal production incentive took center stage on the opening day of the 2026 American Film Market. Motion Picture Association executive Josh Rogin said the measure could help bring major productions and their jobs back to the United States.
Motion Picture Association executive Josh Rogin invoked Tom Cruise on the opening day of the 2026 American Film Market, arguing that a proposed federal production incentive could bring major movies and jobs back to the United States.
“We need to bring Tom Cruise home to make movies here!” said Rogin, the association’s senior vice president of federal government affairs. The incentive still needed congressional approval.
A pitch for production jobs
Rogin said star salaries were central to the proposal because the goal was to attract big-budget films with large workforces. He pointed to Cruise making a movie in France as an example of production jobs and tax revenue going to another country.
“All those jobs become French jobs. All the taxes he pays, he pays it to the French government,” Rogin said. He argued that the current system supports productions moving overseas.
The proposal took center stage at the market, which opened with optimism among some Hollywood participants. The incentive is intended to address a slump in U.S.-shot productions, the discussion at the event made clear.
Industry leaders seek a deadline
Rogin spoke on the first panel alongside Stephen Paul, chair and CEO of SP Media Group, and Scott Karol, the company’s president. Paul and Karol had met with President Donald Trump at the White House earlier in the year, along with Jon Voight, described at the meeting as a special ambassador to Hollywood.
Paul said a letter read to Trump by Voight explained the industry’s concerns about films being made abroad. He said productions filmed outside the United States can affect how audiences elsewhere see the country.
Paul also described a film he was developing about former U.S. President Richard Nixon. He told Trump he planned to shoot it in England because he could not afford to film it in the United States.
According to Paul, Trump responded “No” when asked whether that was right. Karol then presented information about how the proposed federal tax credit could help, Paul said.
Trump later urged Congress on Truth Social to approve a federal production incentive “to create Entertainment Jobs in America.” The panelists said they wanted action by the end of the year.
Karol said producers needed clarity to schedule productions starting January 1, 2027, so their films could qualify. He also expressed concern about what might happen after the U.S. midterm elections.
