California gubernatorial hopeful Steve Hilton is accusing state leaders of pushing Hollywood jobs out of California as Paramount weighs becoming the latest major entertainment company to leave the Golden State.
The Republican candidate pointed to California’s soaring costs and extensive regulations, saying they are driving productions and industry workers toward less expensive states such as Texas and Georgia. Hilton claims the state has lost 51,000 film jobs in only three years.
His criticism comes as Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison warns that the company could relocate outside California during a contentious legal dispute with Attorney General Rob Bonta over its proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
“Paramount’s eyeing the exit and our stuntmen, coordinators, and crews are already packing for Texas and Atlanta because the machine [Xavier] Becerra is backed by has made it cheaper to shoot anywhere but home in Hollywood,” Hilton wrote on X, sharing a video of a conversation with longtime Hollywood stuntman Sam Maloof.
“I’m going to Bring Hollywood Home with real incentives and less red tape. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH,” Hilton added.
California has already expanded its effort to keep film and television production in the state. Last July, lawmakers increased the annual entertainment tax-credit fund from $330 million to $750 million.
On Saturday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation aimed at retaining more of the work performed after filming ends, including editing, sound production and visual-effects jobs.
Beginning next year, studios can seek credits covering 35% to 50% of eligible post-production costs incurred in California. The program is also open to productions filmed elsewhere, allowing California to compete for behind-the-scenes work even when it does not win the shoot itself.
The video, titled “POV: You’re a Hollywood stuntman struggling to find work,” features Maloof discussing the shrinking availability of jobs in California. He said many industry colleagues he knows have already moved away.
“All my friends who are stuntman, executive directors and coordinator — they moved either to Texas or Atlanta,” Maloof said.
Maloof’s stunt credits include major productions such as “Mission: Impossible,” “The Fast and the Furious,” “All About the Benjamins,” “Three Kings,” “The Hitcher” and “Transporter 2.”
He recalled a time when Hollywood crews routinely traveled worldwide for productions. That practice, he said, has become less common as studios increasingly hire local teams wherever filming takes place.
Maloof and his family also appear in the Netflix reality series “Drive Hard: The Maloof Way,” which documents their work involving cars, racing and stunt driving.
“We want another season out of that, but it’s slim pickings now because they’re moving out of the state. So what can we do to try to bring Hollywood back?” Maloof asked.
Hilton described the exodus of entertainment jobs from Los Angeles as a “crime.”
“This is a passion for me with this industry. It’s so important in this region in LA: the movie industry, television industry,” Hilton said. “It’s a crime what they’ve let happen to let all those jobs go to other states and other countries. It’s an absolute crime.”
The comments come as Paramount Skydance and California officials negotiate over a lawsuit challenging the proposed WBD takeover. Bonta and 11 other state attorneys general filed suit in July, arguing that the merger would weaken competition across the film and television industries.
Ellison has threatened to move Paramount out of California while the dispute continues, though the company has not announced any relocation.
Paramount and California officials have recently reported progress in settlement discussions that could bring the antitrust battle to an end.
