Cnn
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Hollywood filmmakers and financiers are disconcerted to say the least by the announcement of President Trump that he wants a 100% price on films produced outside the United States.
Several leaders of film studios and the streaming industry who spoke with CNN are downright apoplectic because, according to them, the president did not think of the ramifications of his proposal, which could decimate an emblematic industry.
Other sources adopt a more open -minded point of view, saying that Trump triggers a dialogue on a real problem – what is called “leakage production” – which could be addressed in many ways.
“On the first blush, it is shocking and would represent a practically complete stop of production,” said an initiate of the industry. “But in reality, he has no competence to do it and it's too complex to apply.”
Netflix shares and other large entertainment companies fell on Monday while investors would digest Trump's confusing comments.
“Last night Post social post From President Trump, everyone in Hollywood is scratching their heads, “said Rich Greenfield, partner of Lights Ventures, in an analyst note.
Some of the industry sources that have spoken with CNN doubt that such a price plan will really be implemented. As intellectual property, films are a form of services – not property. Services are generally not subject to prices, and we do not know how Trump's prices on foreign films would work.
In addition, Trump's assertion that the production of foreign films constitutes a “national security threat” cannot resist a legal examination.
But the leaders of the entertainment industry are taking the possibility seriously. Several leaders have contacted the secretary of commerce Howard Lutnick about the pricing proposal, according to two familiar sources with the discussions. Lunnick On XA responded At Trump's price request on Sunday evening, saying: “We are there.”
Trump's social media position was perhaps just an opening gambit. On Monday, a White House spokesman Kush Desai said: “Although no final decision on the prices of foreign films were made, the administration explores all the options to deliver the directive of President Trump to protect the national and economic security of our country while making Hollywood Grand.”
The reference of the White House to “all options” can calm certain nerves, because Hollywood lobbyists push carrots (such as federal tax incentive for films) rather than sticks (like a price) for some time now.
The production of films and television, formerly focused on and around Hollywood, has gravity to other American states and more and more in other countries due to tax incentives and other financial calculations.
A wide range of films, from “Indes on a low-budget to studio superproductions”, are “currently manufactured in countries like the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Hungary”, the magazine of varied entertainment trade on Monday while transmitting “the shock and disbelief in the European cinema industry”.
Trump made the idea simple when he spoke with journalists in the White House on Sunday evening.
“Other nations have stolen films, film creation capacities in the United States,” he said, referring to the growing number of films produced in other countries like Canada.
“We should have a price on the films that enter,” said Trump, perhaps referring to the films funded and distributed by American companies but filmed elsewhere.
The motion Picture Association of America, the organization representing major American studios, refused to comment on Trump's announcement. But the MPA published a report in 2023 showing that the American film industry manages a trade surplus of $ 15.3 billion with foreign markets, three times the value of imported films. However, it is not clear if the AMP included interior films produced abroad.
The questions about Trump's film prices are bulky. The films made by American companies but do they take place in other countries-say, a historic drama of the Second World War-will it be taxed for filming in the places where they take place?
What about films that are partly produced in the United States and partly in other places?
Some industry leaders wondered aloud if Trump's idea was to punish Canada, where many films are now made due to tax incentives.
One of the sources asked, speaking of Hollywood on the left: “Did he drag us because we have not voted for him?”
And a framework asked if Trump had a real feeling of functioning of television and modern film production: “Did anyone tell him what it would do to James Bond, Harry Potter, Dune? Where are we supposed to shoot Emily in Paris?”
Kate Irby of CNN contributed to this report.
