Hollywood Agents and Indie Producers Push for New Rules to Curb Streaming Giants

The New Push

Major talent agencies and independent film production companies are forming a coalition to push for a modern version of historic television regulations to revive the streaming era. The group includes top agencies like WME, CAA, and UTA, alongside production firms Imagine Entertainment and Legendary. They want legislation that would force streaming platforms to buy at least half of their original content from independent producers. The proposed rules would also place limits on licensing terms to bring back secondary markets that have largely disappeared.

Industry Arguments

Supporters argue that Hollywood's current problems go beyond runaway production costs and stem from a heavily consolidated market. Ken Ziffren, a long-time campaign leader for these rules, points out that tax incentives change where movies are shot, but do not change who owns and profits from the work. Producer and investor Jeff Sagansky notes that the streaming market has concentrated around just four major players acting as an oligopoly with immense pricing power, ordering thirty to forty percent fewer programming hours than a few years ago. Transformers producer Mark Vahradian adds that streamers hold so much power they dictate terms, leaving creators with little motivation to build new things instead of relying solely on sequels and franchises.

Opposition and Strategy

The push faces tough opposition in Congress from major streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon, as well as potential division within the entertainment industry itself. Supporters initially tried to include these ideas in a tax credit bill introduced in September, but after being rebuffed, they are now aiming for the year 2027 when political control in Congress is expected to shift. Laura Friedman, a co-author of the tax incentive bill, acknowledged producers' concerns over industry consolidation while stating her current focus remains on passing the bipartisan national film tax credit. Meanwhile, the Streaming Innovation Alliance criticized the proposal as a set of blunt government mandates that would dampen production and discourage creative risks.

Context

The historic financial interest and syndication rules, commonly known as fin-syn, were originally adopted by the Federal Communications Commission in 1970 to prevent television networks from owning the syndication rights or primetime shows they broadcast. After those rules were repealed in the mid-1990s, the entertainment industry saw a massive wave of vertical integration with major studio and network mergers. Because the FCC's regulatory power is limited to public airwaves, any modern revival of these market restrictions would require an act of Congress rather than a direct commission ruling.