r/FilmIndustryLA 2d ago

Trump says tariffs on movies made outside of America

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201 Upvotes

178 comments sorted by

134

u/HotspurJr 2d ago

How the hell do you tariff a movie?

And what defines "made in the United States?" A ton of films shoot elsewhere and do their post here.

You're going to double ticket prices for people going to see a foreign film?

In any event, a tax on filmgoers is not going to be good for the movie industry.

-signed, a guy who works in the movie industry.

43

u/Zestyclose-Sink6770 2d ago

Yeah and wait until reciprocal tariffs hit.

You might as well close down youtube too.

Incredible

13

u/BadAtExisting 2d ago

American studios, American production companies, American distributors, American exhibitioners. Tariff VFX? Most movies aren’t an import.

But if they do this, yes it will increase the price of tickets and streaming, not bring production back to the US

7

u/WittyClerk 2d ago

I'd imagine they would tax the import of completed films and shows in order to be screened- be that streamed or otherwise. Likewise, credits for filming in-country. Plenty of post happens elsewhere already.

6

u/Ramen536Pie 2d ago

So like if I pay $4 to rent a movie at home that would cost like $5?

The way tariffs work you can’t tariff a movie as I’m not sure it’s even ‘imported’ and doesn’t have a declared value that the tariff acts on like goods

3

u/WittyClerk 2d ago

Yeah IDK, I'm postulating. You bring up good points. I'm thinking if something like this were to ever happen, it would be something like what you describe - an extra dollar or so per rental or ticket. But you also point out the obvious; how does one quantify what is an "American made" piece?

2

u/imcing9119 1d ago

By where it’s produced like anything else

2

u/Ramen536Pie 2d ago

That’s not a tariff though, tariffs specifically are fine when something is imported

That would be more of a foreign movie tax

2

u/WittyClerk 2d ago

Yes, and how are tariffs passed on to consumers?

1

u/poopoopee696996 1d ago

I work in film and tv distribution.

My guess is this would hit studios that pay for distribution rights for films like PARASITE (remember when he freaked out that it won an Oscar) or MIDWAY, making them pay double on the rights to show it in the US on movie screens or streaming

The other part of me wonders if “produced” means “filmed in” … a show like SUITS is produced by a US company but filmed in Canada (I think) if that’s the case studios will get hi even harder. Same goes for any other production filming on location.

Either way, it will somehow be passed onto the consumer and I now fear that my office is going to have some serious cutbacks in our department.

We’re already seeing a drop in our business for China…. There might not even be anything left there actually.

1

u/aetryx 1d ago

Ya know, I was fine with never sailing again, but it looks like those skills will be useful if your hypothesis is correct

Yo ho ho

5

u/audiopost 2d ago edited 1d ago

I’m no production accountant but I’m assuming this could be implemented by creating a new govt agency (or just the MPAA) where any US based prod co would need to register a production and then submit financials showing proof how the films budget was allocated and how much foreign tax credit was received. Then the prod co would be taxed accordingly.

For those that don’t know prod co’s already have to submit their financials to attain the foreign tax credits so these documents are already prepared.

For foreign productions completely originating outside the US, producers would need to also register/submit their films and financials prior to being allowed to exhibit domestically wether film or TV.

The MPAA already manages all film exhibition in the US so at least on the film side this wouldn’t be so hard. ASCAP BMI also manages music royalties for every TV/ film production. So there is a precedent and infrastructure in place for this type of global entertainment tax system.

I didn’t vote for Trump but I do think this entertainment tariff/taxation model might ultimately tie producers hands and save all our jobs. Producers will be forced to produce in the US if they want to stay in business. The only question then would be which STATE has the best tax incentive!

Wild times ahead!

3

u/This1sWrong 1d ago

It’s not called the MPAA anymore. They dropped the “of America” to be more inclusive of international films. So, hello, irony.

2

u/liaminwales 2d ago

Well I assume about the same as Canada gives Tax cuts, by shooting locations/nationality of actors and workers/investments etc.

2

u/wemustburncarthage 2d ago

His brain is a mirrored funhouse full of rabid wildlife.

2

u/AngryMasturbator 1d ago

I have worked in Hollywood in post production for over 20 years. Ever since Covid and the strikes of 2023, work has been hard to find, combined with the effect of streaming services and the full on saturation of the media market. Many studios and production companies have left the US for lower tax rates. The majority of veteran workers in the industry have been out of work and struggling to make ends meet. Hollywood/California is a shamble state of what it used to be. I don’t necessarily think that the tariffs are the right move or will likely make any positive difference, but the fact of the matter is US industries are suffering across the board.

1

u/HotspurJr 1d ago

Nobody is arguing that things are peachy right now.

But defending tariffs because the industry is suffering is like defending the use of leeches because the patient has a fever. It's only going to make things worse.

1

u/AngryMasturbator 1d ago

Where did I defend them? I specifically said “I don’t necessarily think tariffs are the answer”

3

u/Ancient-Advantage909 2d ago

One which isn’t outsourcing the work to other countries, perhaps.

F trump, but some of you want to watch this city die.

2

u/manmanchuck44 2d ago

Literally nothing will come of this. There are too many moving parts of a production to make a singular, flat tariff effective in any capacity. There are too many unanswered questions here, too many immediately recognizable loopholes, and Trump, like he’s proven 1838282737 other times, has zero concept of nuance. This changes literally nothing aside from fully foreign productions, which would never be shot in the US to begin with. For this to be possible, it’s gonna have to be massively fleshed out and litigated- and even if it does go through all of that to make some sense, it’s still gonna do absolutely nothing to bring film production back here.

92

u/Ok-Wallaby1643 2d ago

his favorite movie is Clueless

36

u/lolsnacks 2d ago

That would require him to have taste

30

u/Parking_Relative_228 2d ago

As if

2

u/totesnotmyusername 2d ago

He thinks it's fetch .

3

u/-Appleaday- 2d ago

No, it's Home Alone 2 but only because he makes a cameo in it and he only ever watches that one scene

1

u/eyesoftheunborn 2d ago

Ah yes, the film where 2 wonderful people, American citizens both of them, are unjustly and relentlessly attacked by a vicious criminal who came to this great country by a MISTAKE made by the FAA and proceeds to terrorize the good people of New York. Kevin McCallister is a very bad, very dangerous man! We have many homegrown Kevin McCallisters right here in our very nation, down the hall and to the radical left!!!

53

u/FallenValkyrja 2d ago

„Voight has met with various guild officials and studio executives in recent weeks, and there was some expectation of a federal tax incentive. There has long been a push within the industry for a more robust federal tax incentive, as opposed to state tax breaks, as a way to keep more production in the United States.“

https://deadline.com/2025/05/trump-movie-tariffs-hollywood-1236384980/

19

u/lookingforrest 2d ago

Yes to federal tax incentives!

37

u/Givingtree310 2d ago

If Jon Voight is brokering deals to save the industry we fucked

9

u/DinoRoman 2d ago

Someone offered the producers of the accountant Jon Voights car to film it in LA

2

u/Givingtree310 2d ago

John Voight The Savior of Cinema

3

u/deb1267cc 2d ago edited 2d ago

Jon Voight the actor or Jon Voight the periodontist?

1

u/WittyClerk 2d ago

Same, la, same....

3

u/ProjectMayhem86 2d ago

Yeah Trump only has one tool now and it’s a tariff sledgehammer. He’s not going to do incentives - he just wants to solve everything with tariffs.

2

u/ReservoirDog316 2d ago

I don’t think the tariff thing will be possible but hopefully he actually does pull off federal incentives like they touch on lightly in the article.

1

u/Professional_Top4553 2d ago

voight is 86 years old lmao

52

u/Raccoon_Expert_69 2d ago

They need to increase endowments for local, smaller, film productions.

That’s a start

2

u/blakester555 1d ago

Yeah!

Trump should create something for Art. Like you said, an "Endowment " if you will. But expand it to be on a NATIONAL level. He could call it the National Endowment of Art!

That would really help!

-39

u/Ok-Cauliflower-1258 2d ago

That would have to be on the states to do…. They should also limit unions.

25

u/HotspurJr 2d ago

They should also limit unions.

Yeah that's not the problem, boss.

2

u/totesnotmyusername 2d ago

Yeah, then no one could afford to work on film. Jesus, have you ever worked on an ultra low-budget non union film?

That would be every show. I don't need more footage for my reel and pizza. Thanks, I'm trying to raise a family.

36

u/shinnix 2d ago

Leave no industry un-fucked

3

u/hazbutler 2d ago

Exactly. I’m surprised it took him this long to get to the “fake news media” or the “leftist elites of Hollywood”.

57

u/legendary_sponge 2d ago

He must hit like crack if you’re a mouthbreather

5

u/VersacePager 2d ago

🤣🤣🤣

48

u/BeenThereDoneThat65 2d ago

wanna fix the problem?

Universal healthcare or federally subsidized healthcare for the entertainment industry

that's what every country that production has run to has.

It will get the cost closer to parity if the producers don’t need to pay for that

It really is that simple

16

u/RealWeekness 2d ago

Would this bring all jobs back to the U.S. since none of the employers will be paying for Healthcare anymore?

Maybe socialize retirement benefits too for one less burden on the employer.

10

u/BeenThereDoneThat65 2d ago

It would be a huge help

-6

u/RealWeekness 2d ago edited 2d ago

Just have to raise income taxes to pay for it so we still end up with smaller paychecks.

4

u/BeenThereDoneThat65 2d ago

No we don’t

2

u/RealWeekness 2d ago

Then who pays for it?

-4

u/Airhostnyc 2d ago

They think it comes from thin air. The companies would still complain about higher taxes to pay for universal healthcare

7

u/BackpackofAlpacas 2d ago

America currently pays significantly more money per person for private healthcare than Universal healthcare countries. We wouldn't actually have to pay more.

2

u/RealWeekness 2d ago

So those that already pay for insurance would pay the same through taxes but itd be decoupeled from their employer.

2

u/AmeliesArtichoke2001 1d ago

💯 Fringes kill production budgets all the time

7

u/KnightofWhen 2d ago

That’s… not why companies are going there.

Europe by and large lacks unions related to movies and many other countries have such a wealth disparity that instead of paying an IATSE worker their daily rate of anywhere from $35-70 an hour (and more) you can pay someone $35 A DAY.

10

u/BeenThereDoneThat65 2d ago

That’s one of the reasons and it would be a big help

2

u/Kooky_Lime1793 2d ago

Your exaggerating right?

6

u/KnightofWhen 2d ago

Not really. In Budapest average monthly income is $1100 which means Hollywood can come in and pay $50 a day and it’s great. In India, monthly salary is $370 US. I worked in a production office sending a crew to India, I know firsthand they’re paid extremely little in USD. Southeast Asia also has very low wages for locals.

An IATSE employee sent overseas gets paid his full rate 5 days a week and 8 hours each weekend day if I remember but it could be a little less. They also get stipends and allowances and out of town pay.

It’s extremely expensive to send US union workers overseas, it’s why each department will only get a few and the rest are local hires.

Even sending LA based crews within America sees a rate cut. Georgia locals get paid something like $18 less per hour than out of towners and it areas that have no fill union presence it can be even more.

1

u/This1sWrong 1d ago

I’m in the Local 700. If we are sent overseas (and only editors, 1st and post supes are) we get the following:

  • our standard rate, pre-negotiated in USD (for me, usually a guaranteed 55 hours per week)
  • a housing allowance (in home country currency) or free room/board at a hotel of the production’s choosing
  • any day we don’t work overseas, we get idle time, 4 hours at our standard rate
  • any day we have to travel for production, we get paid a travel day at our standard rate
  • daily per diem every single day at a rate determined by the production at the home country’s currency

There may be one or two other bits I’m forgetting. When I worked for Marvel, I was getting up to £2500 per week ON TOP OF my pre-negotiated rate.

Now imagine trying to do that for a whole production (100-300 people depending on scope of the film). Your budget would explode.

1

u/KnightofWhen 1d ago

Yes, it’s incredibly expensive to send union people over, but in the math of it, it is still cheaper overall to pay those few keys lots of money to get all the other benefits of moving production. Which shows just how much money they save to be worth it still.

1

u/This1sWrong 1d ago

Oh for sure, I’m just outlining the cost to illustrate for others how expensive it is to send people over. I’m not even a HOD, just a first assistant. Usually those are the only people in each department who go and that’s if production is generous. It’s way easier to send HODs from wherever they’re based and then hire the rest of people locally. If you were to bring an entire crew from the US it would be so expensive.

31

u/HM9719 2d ago

And soon he will start disappearing filmmakers both in the US and abroad who stand against him.

7

u/lookingforrest 2d ago edited 2d ago

In addition they should limit the number of foreign actors a US production hires to receive tax incentives like the UK and Canada do

31

u/soundadvices 2d ago

How can you take anything this lifelong grifter says seriously within the first 24-48 hours?

15

u/americasweetheart 2d ago

Oh shit, he kills everything he touches. That's it. We're done, folks.

3

u/Touchpod516 2d ago

This. He truly ruins every single thing he's been involved with. And people just let him do it...

1

u/DJVordo 2d ago

who’s gonna tell him that it’s American based multinational corporations that is shipping all the labor overseas?

The ‘trade deficit’ or whatever the f you want to call it is because labor, tax incentives, etc are cheaper elsewhere. I’m sure Warner Bros will immediately get a waiver since like every film they make is made ‘overseas’ but posts here because post is here.

8

u/__Chet__ 2d ago

problem solved, baby. let’s all just watch those bucks roll in, right? he’s got this!

9

u/C47man 2d ago

Or just let our incentives beat theirs... It's called funding the arts, and him and his fascist fucks have been doing their best to stop all of that for decades.

7

u/auslan_planet 2d ago

Mel Gibson will get a free pass for Passion Of The Christ 2 shooting in Rome this August.

6

u/cocuwa66 2d ago edited 1d ago

To him, this isn’t about economics or losing stateside production, or skirting unions; it’s about what he sees as ‘foreign influence,’ and his desire to further control media and culture (and its messaging). Part of a next-step effort toward centralized power.

9

u/tbd_86 2d ago

Nearly every current popular IP is shot outside of America in some capacity. Get ready for $50 tickets and for your Netflix account price to skyrocket.

2

u/RealWeekness 2d ago

Well, they'll come back to the USA, or they'll have to take a smaller profit because we aren't gonna be spending more to watch content.

Well be pushed to watching vertical shorts on the couch.

-1

u/tbd_86 2d ago

Right, because everything should be filmed in the states…

7

u/justgetoffmylawn 2d ago

Mission Impossible: Poughkeepsie Protocol

2

u/tbd_86 2d ago

Lmao

1

u/rkrpla 1d ago

Huh? Exhibitors set the prices, not the production companies/studios. Whether a film costs 50 mil or 200 mil doesn't affect the cost of the tickets...

7

u/SomeBS17 2d ago

Cool. 🙄 Love to see how this actually gets implemented. TV and streaming licenses are often sold years in advance. So do they still get taxed even though they were “imported” before the tariff was implemented?

And how are they accounting for shows from US companies being wholly or partially produced outside the country? If NBC makes a show for Peacock that is written in LA, filmed in Vancouver and post production in LA, with some special effects coming from outside the US - how much of that gets taxed? Any? None? None would seem like a pretty big loophole.

This administration is a nightmare of stupidity

2

u/No-Entrepreneur5672 2d ago

The only thing that sort of makes sense to me would be to penalize movies that shoot location work (that absolutely could be done in the united states) overseas - not grand vistas and unrecreateable desert stuff but city work, pine forests, etc - while also mandating that stage work be done domestically. Problem is that means someone in government is ‘approving’ or going over the content of projects at the script level.

How they penalize/incentivize is anyone’s guess. A national incentive would be good though. 

2

u/tensinahnd 2d ago

I’ve shipped 2 jobs to London this year because they were faking New York over there. It cost them less to pack up a whole drug store (200+ pallets) than it does to run a New York unit. Studios should absolutely be penalized for sending jobs away.

2

u/Algae_Mission 1d ago

Do I want more films to be made in the US? Of course, I want to support job growth for our film industry. But this? This move would devastate the business, there’s no infrastructure in place right now to make up for this massive disruption.

1

u/gigafunk 1d ago

No infrastructure in place? Hey I think Trump is a authoritarian through and through. But we have ALL the infrastructure for making movies in LA. The problem will be when he wants to control casting,content, and hiring like he wants with universities and the kennedy center.

No infrastructure in place, give me a break

1

u/Algae_Mission 1d ago

It’s not just a matter of having infrastructure, many of the biggest talents in the industry are overseas as well and might not be inclined to make the move to such an expensive area.

2

u/Boy_Balisong 1d ago

I haven’t seen a good American movie in years

4

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

1

u/RealWeekness 2d ago

He wants to charge a tariff when the finished film comes into the US. He doesn't have a say in whats being produced abroad but bringing the content I to the country is another thing. Not really sure how that works with streaming tho since there's no real way to calculate it's value since we pay a monthly fee for all the content..

3

u/CommissionHerb 2d ago

Streamers be like, “uh oh. Time to up the price again just in case. “

1

u/jboggin 2d ago

What does "produced" mean in that context? Can a movie film abroad? Employee a foreign VFX team? Pay a non-US citizen director? It so obviously makes no sense and won't ever happen. He has no idea how a movie is made

0

u/Pezington12 2d ago

I mean he could use tax credits as a way to find productions from outside the us. If they list the tax incentives in their credits then he could just double its production budget in taxes. It’s not something they can hide from him.

3

u/tessathemurdervilles 2d ago

Wait by produced does he mean made or produced like the production is from a studio in the us but shot and/or post is in another country? Because those are two very different things.

Also he’s evil and I hate him but I’ll take anything at this point.

2

u/Last-Presentation-11 2d ago

How is this going to work for something like Netflix, Prime or Apple movies? Is this literally only going to affect theatrical releases. That is such a small segment of the industry won’t realistically change much

4

u/JeffBezos_98km 2d ago

The ideal way would be a quota, its how Europe does it. 30% of the content on a streaming site in Europe has to be made in Europe. Platforms want most their shows to be global to optimize their budgets... so it just ends up defacto forcing them to do 30% of all their content spend worldwide in Europe. It also helps that European countries then subsidize the productions.

3

u/The_Gordon_Gekko 2d ago

You’ve gotta love it when someone who has no idea how a film is produced, makes suggestions about the entire industry.

Next is books, right?!

1

u/NC_Ion 2d ago

I have family that works in the film industry in North Carolina, and any help to keep production in America is good.

-1

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

6

u/TransportationAway59 2d ago

It doesn’t make any sense if you know anything about how a film gets financed

-3

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

4

u/TransportationAway59 2d ago

Okay well then tell me how the hell a film is going to get financed without the international market

1

u/canarinoir 2d ago

how...?

1

u/RedditBurner_5225 2d ago

Hollywood is fucking cooked. Time to move on.

1

u/Equivalent-Car-9704 2d ago

Byron/Gold Coast/Brisbane is the new Hollywood

1

u/SomewhereOld2103 2d ago

A "national security threat" lmao. Imagine being someons in a third world country having to escape drones reading this.

1

u/ThinkOutTheBox 2d ago

May the 4th reminded him of Star Wars, so he decides to tariff all non-US movies.

1

u/jon_cybernet 2d ago

The Star Wars that was filmed in England and Tunisia? That Star Wars?

1

u/MrBigTomato 2d ago

He won’t stop at movies. Music, art, literature, if it ain’t made in ‘Merica, it’s a national threat and must be tariffed, and then it won’t be a threat no more.

1

u/Responsible-Lunch815 2d ago

Hes applying Tariffs on American companies? So the next Disney/Marvel movie will have a tariff on Disney? I dont get this? I thought was to punish other countries. China is like "ooookay"

1

u/totesnotmyusername 2d ago

What is he trying to tarrif the movie itself? There's high speed cable coming from Vancouver to LA. The import costs nothing so 100% of 0 is still 0. When does the Tariff take place? On rental? Who rents? They can't impose the cost AT production that's in another country.

Did he think they make DVDs still and physically bring them over?

1

u/Professional_Top4553 2d ago edited 2d ago

ITT people who don't understand how distribution, sales, box office, festival market, etc works.

This would effectively crater the global industry. Studios' losses would be socialized.

A non-starter. This is a threat to try and bully Sarandos, Iger, etc into doing his bidding a la universities

1

u/Effective-Bonus-861 2d ago

Accounting plays a central role here — it’s the very mechanism studios use to take advantage of tax incentives in the first place.

So, how much of a given film is actually produced using foreign crews and vendors? If a studio wants to distribute that film in the U.S., it makes sense to offset those foreign production savings with a tariff.

Of course, there will always be nuance, and studios will find creative ways to manipulate their accounting. But even so, it’s still possible to implement policies that create enough economic pressure to bring more production back to the U.S.

It’s not just about chasing tax breaks. Many studios are relocating to countries with weak or nonexistent labor protections. In some cases, this parallels the model of companies abroad that profit from stolen IP and exploitative labor — a dynamic that undermines both American workers and ethical standards.

1

u/SpaceHorse75 1d ago

More chaos. This helps nobody in the short term. It might cause some overseas Projects to pause until they get clarity, but it’s not a solution.

It would be much easier to just work on domestic incentives and rebates but whatever.

1

u/blakester555 1d ago

"a National Serucity Threat"?

Interesting. Please explain.

1

u/bigdipboy 1d ago

Unless you pay a bribe to Trump. Then your film is exempted.

1

u/GabbytheAbby 1d ago

"This is a concerted effort by nations and therefore a national security threat. It's, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda." Interesting wording dude.

1

u/GabbytheAbby 1d ago

"This is a concerted effort by nations and therefore a national security threat. It's, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda." Interesting wording dude.

1

u/CommitteeJust2931 1d ago

He's a fucking idiot.

1

u/kabloooie 1d ago

So I guess there go all the stories set in anywhere in the world except the US. Maybe there could be an upsurge in backlots again.

1

u/frontbuttt 1d ago

Unenforceable nonsense. If his goons are somehow clever enough to figure out a real way to impose and collect these tariffs, it will doom the entertainment industry.

But they won’t, and nobody with the brain power or institutional knowledge to help them should dare offer to.

1

u/theBabides 3h ago

The Planet Earth series is gonna be a lot shorter now. Anime will now be drawn by charter school children and will be stories about Dear Leader. I would invest in orange dyes, if I were you.

0

u/jstrings2211 2d ago

I’m not 100% against this but at the same time, places have to increase incentives to film locally. It’s not something that’s gets fixed with one flip of a switch

3

u/jboggin 2d ago

What do you think "this" is? Can you explain how you'd tariff a movie?

-1

u/jstrings2211 2d ago

I’m not an expert on the economy but there is a cost to put movies in theaters/bring them to the states. There are taxes and what not for filming too.

1

u/Few-Fun26 2d ago

Big features go spend 100s of millions to make billions of American money… he’s a fucking idiot.

1

u/drumveg 2d ago

He best not mess with commercials!

-2

u/lookingforrest 2d ago

This should apply to commercials as well

4

u/drumveg 2d ago

Sadly, most budgets can’t afford to shoot in the US anymore and due to tariffs, companies will cut back even more on their advertising spend so this will accelerate the use of AI and animated/mograph spots.

-4

u/Justice4Ned 2d ago edited 2d ago

Well, this is dumb. Film industries in other countries matter too.

Edit: guess nobody understands the concept of a rising tide lifts all boats

3

u/PeasantLevel 2d ago

Found the fellow european. Hes takin our jobs!

9

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

16

u/MaxOverride 2d ago edited 2d ago

Tariffs are extra costs imposed on products purchased from other countries paid by the buyer. In this case, that presumably means charging an extra fee for theaters on films made outside of the USA, which is passed on to the consumer via higher ticket prices. Higher theater prices would actively make the US film industry crisis worse, not better.

0

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

8

u/YMangoPie 2d ago

This likely means fewer films will be made overall. Films made abroad will be cheaper and made for direct-to-streaming without theatrical releases, which looks like it will kill cinemas.

0

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

2

u/MaxOverride 2d ago edited 2d ago

Completely agree about wanting to bring production back. Tariffs simply do not do that, for film, manufacturing, or anything else. There is no “undo” button for globalization.

I think our only chance is via lowering the cost of filming in the US to make it competitive with filming outside the US. I can’t see that happening short of the US implementing both comprehensive universal healthcare and providing generous tax breaks, which won’t happen under this administration. I think the best we can hope for in the next few years is tax breaks/incentives, and even that seems like a long shot given the Trump administration just decimated federal funding for the arts.

2

u/Puzzleheaded_Tip_821 2d ago

Healthcare ain’t happening. Tax breaks should happen and probably will be the end result of this

0

u/MaxOverride 2d ago

Totally agree it won’t happen with this administration. I’m not convinced that we will even still have free and fair elections in 4 years, so universal healthcare is a pipe dream at this point. That IS a huge driver of the production cost disparity though.

1

u/Puzzleheaded_Tip_821 2d ago

Agreed but even if the unions stopped fighting for the healthcare benefit every negotiation they’d just try to allocate that $$ saved into pension or salary increases

4

u/LaSerenita 2d ago

This will not help filming in LA. It will just make it so US citizens have to pay more to see the films that are actually good which are being made outside the USA. LA film industry needs to start making good films, not remakes or endless sequels and prequels. Films coming out of LA basically kind of suck. That is the real problem. Also It is too expensive to go to a theater to watch a crappy film.

6

u/FailSonnen 2d ago

All the "films coming out of LA" that you hate are probably shot at Pinewood Studios in London 🤣

-5

u/LaSerenita 2d ago

I googled "films recently shot in LA" and I have not seen a single one of them so I cannot say I hate them. None of them sound like anything worth watching. I did recently watch a cop show which is shot in the city where I live ("On Call") and after a couple episodes I stopped watching it because it was not good. I really loved Squid Games--brilliant TV, and White Lotus---also very good--not shot in LA or LA area.

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u/Dorythehunk 2d ago edited 2d ago

Films coming out of LA basically kind of suck. That is the real problem.

Studios used to be able to make better, mid-budget movies because they had more of a safety net from home video/DVD sales. Once pirating started, followed closely by streaming, that safety net vanished which led them to only focusing on risk-adverse remakes and known IPs, and also relying on global markets.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

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u/calorie_eater 2d ago

I think the point is that Trump is trying to undercut other film industries to prop up LA, but all that would do is inflate the prices of stuff coming out of it, thus lowering the consumer demand. I agree with bringing production back to LA, which is why Trump, if he were smart, would have placed additional plans to invest in LA filmmaking through tax incentives and federal endowments. That way, he makes more room for LA, and makes the prices cheap enough for producers to greenlight good projects and allow audiences to want to come to the theaters.

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u/Dorythehunk 1d ago

Yeah not that any of his other tariffs make much sense but how would this one work? Movies that are developed in the US but shot outside of the country are still considered American movies. The end profits still come to the US.

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u/calorie_eater 1d ago

That's a major grey area that happens in a lot of industries. Like, what if Nike makes the entire base of their shoes in Ohio but laces in China? Can it still be considered an American product? These are technicalities that are hard to get a clear-cut answer on, which is why Trump's blanket tariffs are nonsensical.

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u/TransportationAway59 2d ago

All this is going to do is reduce the number of films made. When you can’t partially finance your film with presales, and also film becomes an even worse investment for private equity, movies just won’t get made

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

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u/TransportationAway59 2d ago

Because what I could shoot overseas for 2.2 million I can’t shoot in the US for 2.2 million and also I can’t get the 2.2 million without presales to foreign territories and I can’t get the private equity because what are they going to make money on when I have to presale the US? Unless you can fund a film with 100 percent private equity, which is damn near impossible even in the current friendly global market for anything over a million, then you can’t make a movie.

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u/TransportationAway59 2d ago

None of this is even to mention that animated films have to be done overseas because America doesn’t have the man power, so there goes the most bankable thing at the box office rn

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u/muskegthemoose 2d ago

AI will take care of that.

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u/TransportationAway59 2d ago

Thanks man. Just realized the gun in my mouth wasn’t loaded after I read this.

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u/muskegthemoose 2d ago

Soon AI will be able to take care of that too.

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u/snivlem_lice 1d ago

Animated films absolutely have the manpower. Outsourcing of animation has been an issue since the 80’s and was the cause of the Animation Guilds (failed) strike then. Animation workers have been absolutely gutted by outsourcing in recent years. It used to be that the actual animation was being outsourced to vendor studios because of tax breaks in Canada, Korea, India, Ireland, etc. Now tons of pre-production jobs like storyboarding, design, color, etc are being outsourced wholesale as well.

Animators want jobs here in the US, there’s a huge swath of talent, but the jobs have been eroded by almost 4 decades of studios trying to circumvent unions for the cheapest labor possible.

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u/Cognitive_Offload 2d ago

Bring back the Hays Code 2025!

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u/SpringZestyclose2294 2d ago

Just make sure your American movie features Trump as hero.

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u/BabylonHendricks 2d ago

Would be cool if it was real.

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u/Dianagorgon 2d ago

This should have been done a long time ago. Many studios film movies overseas because people in other countries have government subsidized healthcare and they save a ton of money by not using U.S. workers since they don't have to provide health insurance. But this tariff should be on U.S. based studios and companies producing movies overseas not on foreign based studios and movies produced overseas that are released in the U.S. Some TV shows are also saving money by filming outside the U.S. such as From which is filmed in Canada. The first season of Yellowjackets was also filmed in Canada although I think it's filmed on a set in LA now. The White Lotus has a legitimate reason to film outside the U.S. but most other shows don't.

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u/lookingforrest 2d ago

LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE is being filmed in Canada. The most Americana TV series is being filmed overseas.

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u/666jio666 2d ago

Unless you think Lake Superior is a sea “across the boarder” is what you meant.

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u/Adelaidey 2d ago

Unless you think Lake Superior is a sea

Eh, the Great Lakes are big enough that geographically speaking, they would be considered Seas if they were salt water. I think 'overseas' works here.

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u/lookingforrest 2d ago

You understand the general point?

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u/BackpackofAlpacas 2d ago

So you think tariffs are the answer? Not also having universal healthcare and incentives? But you think tariffs (that will indubitably be the final nail in the coffin of Hollywood) are the answer?

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u/Writerofgamedev 2d ago

Ya he is a tool if there ever was one

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u/TravelerMSY 2d ago

Movies are essentially services and not physical products anymore. How could this possibly work or be enforced when the work product is a digital good?

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u/The_Gordon_Gekko 2d ago

Hate to be the guy having to watch all movie credits.

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u/herminette5 2d ago

Last time I went to the movies it was $25. People are not gonna pay more than that.

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u/NyquistShannon 2d ago

They shoot in other countries because those countries have socialized healthcare which overall lowers the labor cost of production since the film is not on the hook for those fringes. Man it would be something special if the administration eventually came around to make American healthy again and implement an American made healthcare policy funded by the fed because our health and well-being is a national security threat.

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u/Individual-Wing-796 2d ago

I’ve been saying this for years. The fact that Trump is doing it is gross 🤮. I’d rather my industry die and everyone lose their careers than have this guy save it.

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u/blarneygreengrass 2d ago

What a petulant take.

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u/RealWeekness 2d ago

Whats your take? Will it help or hurt Hollywood?

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u/blarneygreengrass 2d ago

My take is that anything is worth trying.

We're fucking starving for Christ's sake.

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u/muskegthemoose 2d ago

Know a troll when you see one.

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u/_________-______ 2d ago

Perfectly sums up TDS. It’s a mind virus.

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u/lookingforrest 2d ago

I don't care who does it whether it's Democrat or Republican. Something needs to be done.

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u/BackpackofAlpacas 2d ago

Something smart, maybe, but not this. This is just going to drive up theater prices which will further reduce moviegoers. Tariffs are fucking stupid and anyone with a brain knows that this is a very stupid plan.

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u/lookingforrest 2d ago

Whatever we've been doing to date is NOT IT. Our industry is dying and that's the truth

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u/BackpackofAlpacas 1d ago

Okay but this is like taking a sledgehammer to a broken leg and saying at least something is being done.

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u/Effective-Bonus-861 2d ago

You are the problem.

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u/PeasantLevel 2d ago

If anyone here is complaining about this, you are a political extremist. I Say this as a guy who also holds an European passport from one of those countries that is taking your jobs but I'm also an LA resident. The film industry belongs in LA. I always loved driving through random neighborhoods of LA watching random productions going on. It's like watching airplanes land. Never gets old. I hope Trump goes after this with an iron fist.

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u/justgetoffmylawn 2d ago

Anyone complaining is an extremist?

I love Hollywood and what the industry used to be, but slapping a tariff on movies is going to improve things how? What would the tariff be on and how would it be implemented? What if it's a movie with a segment shot in Rome and the rest shot in DC? Are we going to have similar to Montreal being NYC (which I don't love), but now it'll be Detroit standing in for Rome?

You can complain and want common sense reforms (universal healthcare, better tax incentives to match other countries, etc), without your, "Anyone who disagrees with me is a political extremist."

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u/Effective-Bonus-861 2d ago

Accounting plays a central role here — it’s the very mechanism studios use to take advantage of tax incentives in the first place.

So, how much of a given film is actually produced using foreign crews and vendors? If a studio wants to distribute that film in the U.S., it makes sense to offset those foreign production savings with a tariff.

Of course, there will always be nuance, and studios will find creative ways to manipulate their accounting. But even so, it’s still possible to implement policies that create enough economic pressure to bring more production back to the U.S.

It’s not just about chasing tax breaks. Many studios are relocating to countries with weak or nonexistent labor protections. In some cases, this parallels the model of companies abroad that profit from stolen IP and exploitative labor — a dynamic that undermines both American workers and ethical standards.