Steve Hilton Expands "Bring Hollywood Home" Plan With New Studio Financing and Broader Eligible Credits

The Stakes: An Industry in Structural Decline

With 19 days remaining before California's November 3 gubernatorial election, Republican candidate Steve Hilton is making his most forceful push yet to establish himself as the candidate Hollywood cannot afford to ignore. On October 14, he unveiled an expanded version of his "Bring Hollywood Home" plan at a press conference below the Hollywood sign — a deliberately symbolic backdrop for a policy argument the candidate frames as an emergency intervention, not an incremental fix.

That framing is grounded in sobering numbers. Around 100,000 people were employed in Los Angeles County's motion picture sector by late 2024, down from approximately 142,000 two years earlier — a loss of roughly 42,000 positions concentrated in television, broadcast, and development, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Becerra himself cited "some 50,000 jobs in Los Angeles" lost from the film and movie industry during the September 30 CNN debate. At the same time, California faces an entrenched structural challenge: the state currently offers a 35% base credit on below-the-line costs — with performance bonuses reaching 45% for select productions — yet its $750 million annual cap routinely results in eligible projects going unfunded.

What the October 14 Plan Actually Says

The expanded proposal Hilton released on Wednesday goes well beyond the version he first announced in late April alongside former state senator and lieutenant governor candidate Gloria Romero, outside the shuttered Cinerama Dome. The core of the new plan sets a flat 40% state tax credit for qualifying productions with no annual spending ceiling — ending the oversubscribed application cycles that currently leave eligible studios without full funding. Hilton is also floating a temporary "kickstart" rate of up to 50% for the first five years, intended to signal maximum competitiveness while California rebuilds its production base.

Equally significant is what the plan covers. Under the existing California program, above-the-line compensation — salaries for directors, writers, lead actors, and producers — is excluded from credit calculations. Hilton's proposal would bring those costs into the calculation, allowing the largest line items in any production budget to qualify. Commercials, documentaries, and reality television would also become eligible for the first time; all three categories are currently shut out of California's incentive structure entirely.

On the infrastructure side, the October 14 plan adds provisions that were absent from the April announcement: a five-year sales tax exemption on building materials used in soundstage construction, and state-backed bond financing available for studio acquisition and renovation. Los Angeles soundstages currently sit at just 62% occupancy, according to the most recent FilmLA data, while a $150 million state incentive for soundstage construction approved by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021 has since been depleted with no successor program in place.

Administration is addressed through a continuous rolling approval system that would mandate a certification decision within 30 days of application — targeting the narrow application windows that production companies identify as a primary planning obstacle. "Steve will replace narrow application windows with continuous rolling approvals," the plan states.

The Federal Layer: A New Incentive Now in Congress

The plan's ceiling rises substantially when stacked with the federal component. On September 25, a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers — led by Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) — formally introduced the Motion Picture, Television, and Entertainment Revitalization Act in Congress. The bill proposes a 20% base credit on qualified U.S. labor costs, boosted to as high as 30% for productions shot in rural areas or federally designated disaster zones — a category that includes Los Angeles County following the 2025 wildfires. Hilton, who holds a Trump endorsement, has positioned himself as the candidate best placed to shepherd that bill through given his ties to the White House.

Combined, a 40% California state credit and the proposed 20% federal credit would push total incentives to 60% for qualifying productions — approaching the cost-neutral threshold that Hilton's team has described as the goal of the combined program. Both Hilton and Becerra have expressed support for the federal bill.

Bipartisan Agreement on the Cap — Divergence on Everything Else

On the narrowest possible point, the two general-election finalists agree: the existing $750 million annual ceiling on California's film credit program must go. That consensus solidified during the April 28 CBS California Gubernatorial Debate at Pomona College and has been reaffirmed at subsequent forums. Both Becerra and Hilton have stated publicly they favor an uncapped incentive structure.

The differences emerge immediately beyond that shared floor. Hilton's 40% base — with a possible 50% kickstart rate and the above-the-line expansion — is the most expansive offer on the table. Becerra, by contrast, has conditioned his support on fiscal accountability, telling debate audiences he would back credits only as long as the state recovers at least a dollar in economic return for every dollar of incentive provided. The Hollywood Reporter noted that Becerra has been "almost allergic to lavish tax benefits," even as he has grown more specific in his entertainment platform. Becerra has also argued that his government experience positions him to advance the now-introduced federal legislation — a claim Hilton contests, pointing to his own direct engagement with the Trump administration and with MPA leadership.

The Debate That Defined the Contrast

The clearest head-to-head on Hollywood policy came during the candidates' only scheduled debate, hosted by CNN on September 30 at the network's Burbank studio and moderated by Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. Hilton attributed the industry's collapse directly to what he called sixteen consecutive years of Democratic regulatory accumulation, arguing that the resulting cost burden had made California structurally uncompetitive against rival hubs in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. Becerra repeatedly redirected the exchange toward the Trump administration, tying Hilton's economic proposals — including the entertainment package — to broader federal policy. "We lost some 50,000 jobs in Los Angeles, California, from the film and movie industry. These are middle class jobs," Becerra said at the debate, arguing his track record in government gives him the tools to address it.

Where the Numbers Stand — and What They May Not Capture

California's existing program has shown early movement. FilmLA reported 5,121 total on-location shoot days across the Los Angeles region in Q1 2026 — a 10.7% improvement over the prior quarter's four-year low of 4,625 days. Feature film production drove the strongest subcategory result, rising 52.3% year-over-year to 687 shoot days, with nearly a quarter of that activity tied to California tax credit projects. Still, total production was down 3.3% year-over-year, and overall shoot days remain nearly 30% below the five-year average — leaving supporters of both the current program and Hilton's expansion arguing from the same data set in opposite directions.

The harder arithmetic is political. The most recent polls — including a survey published October 13 — show Becerra leading by approximately 17 points, a gap that has held largely consistent in double digits since the June primary even as Hilton has campaigned aggressively across the state. California has not elected a Republican governor since 2006. Whether the most detailed entertainment rescue plan in the field can close that distance in the final sprint is the question the November 3 ballot will answer.

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