Illogical and Perplexing Incident: Enigmatic Occurrence Leaves Community Baffled - "Industry leaders in Hollywood puzzled by Trump's tariff pronouncement"
Title: "Straight Up Crazy": Hollywood Skeptical of Trump's 100% Film Tariff Proposal
Got your attention? Here's the lowdown on that bonkers announcement from Trump. He's haverin' a go at the film industry, instructin' the Commerce Department to slam a 100% tariff on those movies that ain't made within the borders of the good ol' US of A. "We want the silver screen filled with red, white, and blue again," he spouted on his Truth Social account - echoin' his infamous "Make America Great Again" slogan.
The filmin' world, however, ain't too pleased. Entertainment stocks took a nose-dive, and there's loads of uncertainty up the wazoo - nobody quite knows if the announcement includes TV series, too. What makes matters worse? The whole thing might just be unworkable.
Entertainment lawyer Handel puts it straight: "If the thing Tom Cruise's doin' on the Eiffel Tower is to ride a zebra, what are we supposed to do - film it on the Vegas knockoff of the Eiffel Tower? That's just plain stupid."
Handel has a point, see. Movies involve that intellectual property stuff - y'know, pumping that creative goodness into the world for everyone to enjoy. You can't just slap a tax on that like you would a pair of sneakers or an iPhone (though, let's be real, we'd all love it if we could).
But suppose they figure out a way to collect that tax. Well, that's just gonna make the movies more expensive for us watching, ya feel me? And with increased costs, there's gonna be less films rollin' out, and that's less entertainment for everybody. In Handel's view, that means reduced production, more expensive tickets, and fewer films for the big screen and online streaming services to offer.
Most film studios and other industry organizations ain't exactly chompin' at the bit to give their take just yet. But we can tell you that Trump's idea's been causing some worry. There's a lot of agreement in Tinseltown that the American film industry's been strugglin' as of late.
The U.S. film industry's an important part of the country's economy – provide jobs for over 2.3 million folks and fetchin' in a whopping $279 billion in 2022, to be exact. And that's not even countin' those sweet film exports that're more than thrice the size of the imports.
But the industry's had its fair share of troubles in 2023. Months of strikes by screenwriters, actors, voice artists, and DVD rentals guys left everyone scratchin' their heads. And the COVID-19 pandemic ruptured the consumer behavey we've all come to know and (sorta) love.
According to ProdPro's January report, the industry's gonna be spendin' $14.5 billion on production in 2024. But that's down 26% from 2022. And a survey of film studio chiefs showed that the top five preferred production locations for 2025 and 2026 were all outta the US - top positions belonged to Toronto, the UK, Vancouver, Central Europe, and Australia. Cali came in sixth.
An industry insider recently said that, despite sharin' Trump's goal of bringin' more films to the States, the industry needs tax incentives – not tarrifs – to achieve it. Tarrifs, they claim, would just strangle the rest of the film industry.
So there ya have it, folks. Trump's proposals might just be downright nuts for the film industry, with increased costs, legal confusion, international drama, and investor unease at play. The experts advised stickin' to tax incentives and other supportive measures to boost domestic film production, so here's hopin' that ol' Trump listens up. Otherwise, get ready to dig a little deeper for your movie tickets and popcorn!
- The US film industry, which brings in a staggering $279 billion to the country's economy and employs over 2.3 million people, reacted skeptically to Trump's proposal for a 100% tariff on films not made in the USA.
- Entertainment attorney Handel, in reference to Trump's plan, pointed out an apparent absurdity: if Tom Cruise were to ride a zebra on the Eiffel Tower for a Hollywood film, would they be expected to film it at a Las Vegas replica of the tower instead? This, Handel argued, would be plain stupid.
- Amid concerns about increased costs, legal confusion, and international drama, industry insiders advocate for tax incentives rather than tariffs to promote domestic film production. These insiders predict that tariffs could potentially strangle the rest of the film industry.
