David Ellison, chief executive of Paramount Skydance, has been lobbying US legislators to support a proposed bipartisan federal film tax incentive that would stack on top of individual states' existing tax credit schemes. Details of his efforts emerged on the same day that California attorney general Rob Bonta and 11 other state regulators filed suit to block Paramount's proposed $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, adding a fresh complication to Ellison's expansion plans just as he pushes for policy that would benefit his growing studio empire.

Ellison and his chief legal officer, Makan Delrahim, met Republican members of the House Ways and Means Committee on Monday night as part of a series of trips in support of the bill, according to sources. The initiative was previously championed by Senator Adam Schiff and Representative Laura Friedman, though Schiff's fraught relationship with President Donald Trump had been seen as a potential obstacle; both remain involved despite uncertainty over which legislators will ultimately carry the bill. Trump, who floated a "100 percent tariff" on foreign-made films in 2025 but has since gone quiet on domestic production policy, met his Hollywood "special ambassador" Jon Voight in May to discuss the incentive, and has spoken warmly of Ellison, whose father Larry Ellison enjoys a friendly relationship with the president.