During the Financial Times Business of Entertainment Summit on September 17, 2025 in Los Angeles, DGA Associate National Executive Director/Western Executive Director Rebecca Rhine joined Dee Dee Myers, Senior Advisor to Governor Gavin Newsom and Director of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, Kevin Klowden, Executive Director of the Milken Institute, and Paul Poteet, Partner at FGS Global on the panel “Reviving the Entertainment Economy: Can Policy and Capital Bring Hollywood Back?”
Rhine brought a clear perspective to the discussion, emphasizing that the creative community and artists must be at the center of any plan to restore stability and growth in California’s entertainment industry. Rhine underscored that workers were at the heart of protecting the industry in California, noting that the DGA, as part of a broad labor coalition, played a leadership role in shaping the state’s expanded film and television tax incentive program earlier this year. She stressed that job creation and retention were the primary drivers behind new incentive, ensuring that the program supports the people who make production possible. “Workers have done their part,” she said. “Now it’s on the companies to meet us halfway and make shooting in California part of their long-term strategy.”
Turning to industry consolidation, Rhine warned that the concentration of corporate power has pushed decision-making further from those who create. “Too often, the creative voice gets drowned out by analysts and accountants,” she said. “They may understand balance sheets, but not storytelling.” When decisions are driven solely by financial calculus, she argued, it’s working people, artists, and audiences who pay the price.
Finally, Rhine highlighted the cultural and economic value of the American entertainment industry, calling it one of the nation’s most significant driver of influence on the global stage. She urged policymakers to think beyond state-level incentives and consider a federal strategy to keep film and television production — and the jobs and creativity it sustains — within the United States for the long term. Her remarks served as both a call to action and a reminder that Hollywood’s revival must center the people who bring stories to life.
