(VitalNews.org) – California’s slide into ultra-leftism may be costing Hollywood its favored status among the entertainment elite. Actor Dennis Quaid thinks the Lone Star state should be the new movie-making capital.
Quaid told Fox News’s Jesse Watters that he’s watching the Texas statehouse to see if “more business-friendly” legislation will come through, paving the way for a filmmaking boom. If it does, would-be filmmakers might share in $300 million in state support, up from $40 million today.
About ten years ago, Quaid said, he made “some great movies” in Texas and looks forward to working there on others.
Besides, an increase in filmmaking could bring thousands of residents back into Texas from adjoining states, Quaid said. Many people moved to surrounding states such as Oklahoma and Louisiana, he said.
Quaid also said he couldn’t remember the last time he made a movie in California. He is slated to play former President Ronald Reagan in an upcoming film.
In addition to the possibility of more state money for the film industry, Quaid pointed to Texas’ lack of income tax as an attractor. Texas has taken many industries from California, he said, noting the exodus of many big firms in the tech sector from the west coast to the gulf coast.
While a lot of pre- and post-production on films still happens in California, the actual filming of movies has migrated out of the state, in part because of California’s high tax burden and the generosity of film subsidies in other states.
California’s draconian response to the pandemic is also responsible for a large share of the state’s recent population loss. Reversing a decades-long trend, California is now losing more residents every year than it brings in (not counting illegal immigrants).
Though at a slightly lower rate than in recent previous years, California still lost nearly 140,000 residents in 2022. California’s chief demographer, Walter Schwarm, said the rate of population loss is slowing, however.
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