Rob Lowe blasted California and Los Angeles leadership over how expensive in-state film and TV production has gotten. The actor and “Literally!” podcast host insisted that “everybody” involved in the production exodus to overseas production hubs like Dublin, Ireland (where his own “The Floor” films) should lose their jobs.
“There are no tax credits, so like, all those other places are offering 40% — 40%. And then on top of that, there’s other stuff that they do,” Lowe said in conversation with his former “Parks and Recreation” co-star Adam Scott earlier this month. “And then, that’s not even talking about union stuff. It’s just tax, economics of it all, so it’s criminal what California and L.A. have let happen — it’s criminal. Everybody should be fired.”
The conversation came about after Lowe shared where he films his Fox game show, which prompted the podcast host to give his two cents on Hollywood’s state of affairs as it relates to production leaving the one-time hub for other states and countries for better tax incentives, talent pools and more.
“It’s cheaper to bring 100 American people to Ireland than to walk across the lot, Fox, past the sound stages and do it there,” Lowe said of “The Floor.”
Watch the full interview below — the points of interest come up about four minutes in.
“Do you think if we shot ‘Parks’ right now, we’d be in Budapest?” Scott questioned.
“One-hundred percent we would be. We’d be in Budapest,” Lowe replied.
“It’s so weird, there’s nothing, nothing shoots in Los Angeles,” Scott added.
“Nothing, nothing. I had a — my next show already done, scripts, deals closed,” Lowe said. “And they said we’re shooting this in New York, and I said I’m not moving to New York to do this, and it went away. Show’s done; I’m not doing it.”
Later on, Scott reflected on their time shooting the 2009 NBC sitcom, detailing how the Radford Studio Center in Studio City used to be a vibrant and bustling scene compared to what he sees today.
On March 19, one week after this episode of “Literally!” first aired, the California Film Commission approved 51 films for tax incentives through the state’s film and tax credit program, what is now recorded as the most ever to be approved in a single application window.
Back in February, California legislators introduced bills the state assembly and senate to expand the Golden State’s film and television tax credit program, and there has been an ongoing film and TV production campaign to bring projects back to Los Angeles in the wake of the L.A. wildfires.
