LOS ANGELES — At the 2026 Art Directors Guild Awards, California Rep. Laura Friedman was presented with the ADG President’s Award for her advocacy of state and federal tax incentives that aim to support union jobs in the entertainment industry.
What You Need To Know
- Rep. Friedman worked in the film industry for 20 years before being elected to Congress
- She has been working with California Sen. Adam Schiff to institute a national cash credit
- Friedman said that because there is production in other states as well, there are other members of Congress, including Republicans, who are seeing the importance of a national cash credit
- Friedman also mentioned that her constituents are concerned about the economics in Los Angeles, the stagnation in the job market and good-paying union jobs
Friedman, who worked in the film industry for 20 years before being elected to Congress, said Saturday night’s honor was something she never thought she would receive.
As part of her advocacy to keep entertainment union jobs, not only in California but in the country, Friedman said she has been working with California Sen. Adam Schiff to institute a national cash credit.
“That would help filming in California because we have a California tax credit … this would double down on that investment but also keep production in the United States,” she told Spectrum News.
Friedman said that because there is production in other states as well, there are other members of Congress, including Republicans, who are seeing the importance of a national cash credit.
“We want to tell our own stories,” she said. “We know we have the best crews in the entire world, and as long as we have a level playing field, we will have production in the United States and here in Los Angeles where we have incredible infrastructure. Having this tax credit is really the missing link.”
On the subject of the newly announced deal that Paramount will acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, Friedman said there are still a lot of moving parts that are being played out.
“I will tell you, I am deeply concerned about consolidation within the industry,” she told Spectrum News. “Anytime there is consolidation, whether it’s in the pharmaceutical industry, the hospital industry, the telecom industry … we know that leads to less competition and higher prices for consumers.”
Additionally, the consolidation of the two studios is worrisome for the congressional representative, for what the impact it could have on jobs in the Los Angeles area. She said the region cannot afford to lose thousands of jobs at a time when Southern California is still recovering from last year’s deadly wildfires.
“I would like to know what’s going to happen to jobs, what’s going to happen to both existing studios’ lots, and what this is going to mean for the consumers,” Friedman said.
The U.S. Supreme Court in a ruling last month blocked the president’s sweeping tariffs, but Friedman said those tariffs have had a similar impact as in other industries. In the past year, Friedman said tariffs have been raising the prices of groceries and building materials, and what she does not want to see is tariffs raising the price for film and television — especially for consumers.
“You know what wouldn’t be helpful? If Donald Trump goes through with his idea of tariffs on films,” she said. “Not only do we not understand what that would mean, but it might lead to much higher prices for consumers.”
Another concern for the congresswoman about the consolidation of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery is the impact it could have on journalism and local news.
“We know that the Ellisons, Skydance and Paramount may not run celebrity.land the same way. It may not be seen as an unbiased news source,” she said. “We have yet to see what’s going to happen, but there is a concern about consolidation about media of people who are very loyal to Donald Trump and feel that they owe him in terms of their reporting of the presidency and the last thing the United States needs is biased news sources. We need news to follow wherever the story goes, whether they are critical of this president or any president.”
Friedman also mentioned that her constituents are concerned about the economics in Los Angeles, the stagnation in the job market and good-paying union jobs.
“And of course they are also concerned about the threats to democracy from Donald Trump and ICE causing havoc in our streets,” she said.
Saturday night’s Art Director Guild Awards took place just hours after the United States and Israel, in a joint effort, launched an attack on Iran, which led to the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. In response to the events, Friedman called on Congress to return to Washington immediately to vote on the War Powers Act.
“The ability to declare war is specifically reserved for Congress,” she said. “This is an illegal action that the Trump administration has taken, and they should be consulting with Congress. Only Congress will decide whether or not this is a war that is worth risking American lives over. Right now, we don’t know — in terms of Congress — why this action was taken, or what was the immediate threat to the United States. If so, we have not seen that evidence, which means this would be an illegal strike.”
Friedman, who represents California’s 30th District, is running for reelection this year.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source spectrumlocalnews.com ’
