Why Every Californian Has a Stake in Keeping Hollywood Home

The debate over Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery is larger than a corporate address. California risks losing an employment network, a supplier base, and taxable economic activity that help support communities across the state.

A recent POLITICO and UC Berkeley Citrin Center poll caught my attention (California Playbook, Sept 23, 2026). 

California voters were almost evenly divided over Paramount’s threat to move its headquarters out of state: 44 percent were concerned, and 45 percent were not.

UC Berkeley political scientist Jack Citrin offered a simple explanation for the regional divide. ‘If you live in Fresno or Redding, why should you care where movies are made if you can still watch them on Netflix?’

That question gets at something much bigger than Hollywood.

Too often, we look at California’s problems only through the window of our own house.

If I don’t work in Hollywood, why should I care if a studio leaves?

If I don’t work in agriculture, why should I care what happens to farmers?

If I don’t own a small business, why should I care when one closes?

Because an economy doesn’t work that way.

When a major company leaves California, the impact doesn’t stop with the name on the building.

A film production employs electricians, drivers, carpenters, painters, camera crews, accountants, security guards, and hundreds of other workers. Those productions rent trucks and warehouses. They stay in hotels. They order food from restaurants. They buy lumber, clothing, fuel, and equipment.

Those workers then take their paychecks home. They pay rent and mortgages. They buy groceries. They take their kids out to dinner. They pay taxes.

One job supports another job. One business supports another business.

That is the part we often miss.

Fresno and Redding Have a Stake 

The comment about Fresno and Redding is what made me want to write this.

You don’t have to live in Los Angeles to be affected when California loses jobs and investment.

We share the same state economy and budget.

Taxes from workers and businesses help pay for schools, universities, health programs, public safety, roads, and other services Californians rely on.

And production itself doesn’t stop at the Los Angeles County line.

The California Film Commission reported 1,351 filming days outside the Los Angeles studio zone among projects approved during the 2025–26 fiscal year. Those productions can bring local spending on hotels, restaurants, workers, permits, and rentals.

So, this isn’t simply about whether Hollywood stays in Hollywood. It is about whether California remains a place where people want to invest, hire workers, and build businesses.

We Need to Look Beyond Our Own Four Walls

This is my larger concern.

We have become very good at asking, “How does this affect me?”

We need to get better at asking, “How does this affect us?”

California is nearly 40 million people tied together economically. What happens to a farmer in Fresno, a studio worker in Los Angeles, a small business owner in Redding, or a technology company in Silicon Valley doesn’t necessarily stay there.

Eventually, those consequences move through communities, businesses, families, and government budgets.

That doesn’t mean Californians have to support every merger, corporation, or tax incentive. Those policies should be debated on their merits.

But we should understand what is at stake.

You may never work on a movie set. You may never see your name in the credits. But the electrician who works on that set may be your neighbor. The restaurant feeding the crew may employ your cousin. The hotel may employ your daughter. And the taxes they generate may help fund your child’s school.

Sometimes what looks like someone else’s economic problem eventually becomes ours. California would be better served if we started seeing that connection.