Hollywood's reaction to the idea of ​​Trump's film prices: confusion, terror and a little hope

Hollywood leaders rushed on Monday to interpret President Trump's call at rigorous prices on films produced outside the United States – a bomb proposal that would upset how the films have been made for years.

Trump announced on Sunday evening that he authorized a 100% price on films “entering our country which is produced to foreign land”. The proposal, like many other prices imposed by Trump, aims to bring a key industry home.

The studios run many of their feature films in Canada, Great Britain, Bulgaria, New Zealand and Australia. These countries offer incentives to attract well -remunerated jobs and include their monuments on the big screen.

“The film industry in America dies from a very rapid death,” Trump wrote on his social platform Truth. “Hollywood and many other areas in the United States are devastated.”

Studio leaders were caught off guard.

Many filmmakers would like to work in the United States, but prefer to see the government institute its own national tax credit. The prices, according to many, would accelerate the disappearance of the film industry rather than prevent it because they would increase costs. In addition, we do not know how a price on the movies would really work.

“Nobody knows, and I do not suspect that we will do it for a while,” said a framework of the high -level film industry that was not allowed to comment. “Is it on foreign productions funded at the national level?” Is it funded abroad? The price on film income or film costs on these projects, or both? ”

Incitations in foreign production have hampered the economy of production of Los Angeles, which was sick after the pandemic closures of COVID-19, the strikes of labor and the warming of traditional entertainment companies after losing billions of dollars on streaming services to compete with Netflix. January forest fires in Pacific Palisades and Altadena have treated another reverse.

The production of television programs, feature films and advertisements fell 22% in the first three months of the year, compared to the first quarter of 2024, according to the non -profit organization Filmla.

Large entertainment companies have refused to comment. The president's announcement sparked a frenzy of questions, especially if American companies, such as Walt Disney Co., Warner Bros. Discovery, Amazon and Netflix, would be subject to prices simply to shoot a film outside the United States

According to data from The Motion Picture Assn., The United States manages a trade surplus of $ 15.3 billion with its entertainment exports.

“This creates incredible uncertainty in the industry,” said Nick Vyas, founding executive director of Randall R. Kendrick Global Supply Institute at the USC. “This is the only industry where we have created a huge advantage.”

Key details must be developed, warned the White House on Monday. The White House spokesman Kush Desai, said in a statement that “no final decision on the prices of foreign films had been made”.

Some crew chiefs have applauded Trump's instinct to protect American jobs.

“The studios are pursuing inexpensive production costs abroad while eliminating the American workforce that has built the film and television industry,” said team president Sean M. O'Brien, and director of the film Lindsay Dougherty in a statement.

But a film rate would be complicated in practice.

Similar to the Detroit automotive industry, different production phases often occur outside the United States, such as adding special effects.

The prices are generally imposed when a product arrives at an entry port, when the importer of the file must pay the tax before the publication of the item. It would not be possible for films, which are digitally distributed.

Digital products are also not part of the normal tariff regime, which would make it difficult to determinate its evaluation, said Tony Gulotta, principal director and head of national tax practice at Ryan, a global business focused on commercial taxes.

Adding to the obstacles, the World Trade Organization also has a moratorium on digital trade taxation which takes place until March 2026, he said.

Administration officials are expected to meet the studio leaders and the MPA to request the clarity of whether the prices will be based on the budget of a film, its income, the price of theater tickets or the fees of subscribers of the streaming services.

Another question: television shows, many of which are filmed in Canada and the United Kingdom, would it be included?

“It's not a little thing”, Frank Albarella, director of media and telecommunications at the KPMG consulting firm. “It could really disrupt the industry.”

The call to improve American production comes after Trump hit a trio of actors – Jon Voight, Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson – to be his “special ambassadors” in Hollywood.

Voight and his manager, Steven Paul, went to Florida to present a plan to Trump during a meeting in person last weekend in Mar-A-Lago.

The plan was developed after meeting unions, studios and Hollywood streamers, and addressed multiple potential ways to help the trade in American cinema. These included federal tax incentives, co-production treaties with other countries, infrastructure subsidies, vocational training and “prices in certain limited circumstances”, according to a press release from the Paul production company.

“The American film industry, and Hollywood, is a lighthouse to teach the American dream in the world and is an engine for employment growth and career opportunity,” said Paul in the press release.

But it was Trump himself who found the price plan, said a White House official.

Congress leaders warned that prices were not the best way to stimulate the American film industry.

“If President Trump is serious to maintain a dominant American film industry and to hold production jobs in the United States,” said representative Laura Friedman (D-Glendale),, A former film producer, “I invite him to join me to fight for a national cinematographic tax credit which levels the rules of the game with incentives abroad.”

Leak production is a tendency of decades, but leaders say that its impact on California has reached a crisis point.

Programs such as “Bridgeton” from Netflix and films such as “Wicked” and “How to Train Your Dragon” by Universal, “The Conjuring: Last Rites” and “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” by Disney's Marvel, were filmed in the kingdom

In addition to lower labor costs, studios have moved abroad to give a local flavor for productions for the public in these continents. Films often collect up to 60% of their international public income.

Some experts have warned that the imposition of rigid prices could invite reciprocal samples from other territories.

The news could also alleviate the agreement at the Cannes Film Festival in France next week due to the uncertainty of the proposed policy.

Senior debt lenders have expressed concern about how it will affect distribution, said Peter Marshall, director general of media insurance services at Epic Insurance Brokers & Consultants.

“If you wanted to time a bomb declaration to frustrate the independent cinema sector, you would say it now, just before the largest market in the world,” said Marshall. “It's okay, I think, having almost certainly throwed a huge veil on this subject.”

The staff editors Michael Wilner, Stacy Perman and Wendy Lee contributed to this report.