Three days ago, Deadline wrote, Jon Voight Has A Plan To Save Hollywood: Will Trump Or Anyone Else Care? Similarly, the L.A. Times wrote, Trump named Gibson, Stallone and Voight as ‘special ambassadors.’ Hollywood is still waiting for a call.
Coincidence, or not, Trump responded. The President sent shockwaves through Hollywood with a dramatic proposal to slap a 100% tariff on imported films. He now, wisely, appears to be slightly dialing back on that, but still very much intends to “make Hollywood great again.”
Yesterday, Trump told reporters at the White House he planned to meet with key figures in the film industry to discuss the proposed tariffs, emphasizing that his intention wasn’t to damage the business. “I want to help the industry… I want to make sure they’re happy with it, because we’re all about jobs,” he reportedly said—suggesting a retreat from his hardline stance.
Jon Voight, who apparently helped “inspire” the tariff idea, is working to tone things down as well. Voight, along with producer Steven Paul, has given Trump a detailed proposal aimed at revitalizing the entertainment industry, and bringing more film and TV production back to the U.S. Voight says that his proposal to Trump only included tariffs in “certain limited circumstances.”
With that, Hollywood is breathing a huge sigh of relief.
The proposal, which Voight developed alongside Paul and SP Media Group/Atlas Comics President Scott Karol, has already been shopped around to Hollywood guilds, unions, studios, and streamers in hopes of making it palatable to an industry not exactly known for its MAGA leanings.
The plan put forward by Voight, Paul, and Karol outlines several key measures to encourage domestic film and television production. These include introducing federal tax incentives, revising parts of the tax code, and creating co-production agreements with other countries. The proposal also suggests providing infrastructure subsidies to support theater owners, production studios, and post-production businesses.
“The President loves the entertainment business and this country, and he will help us make Hollywood great again,” said Voight, an Oscar winner.
Voight’s proposal comes at a time when California has suffered a significant decline in film productions. Over the past decade, the film industry has steadily moved beyond its traditional base in Hollywood and California. Increasingly, productions are being filmed in states such as Georgia, and New Mexico. However, many filmmakers are looking abroad, opting to shoot in countries including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and several locations across Europe due to their beneficial tax incentives.
Puck’s Matt Belloni has a below-the-line tech telling him that no matter how ridiculous the tariffs are, something needs to be done, and he’s 100% on board rattling the flawed system currently in place:
This feels right to Trump because he knows Hollywood is ultimately a union town, and the union people have been betrayed by this industry. We are so ready to flip to any political or business figure who shows that they give a shit about us.
Just today, Spike Lee spoke to THR about the dire state of Hollywood:
I have a lot of friends here in L.A. that work within the industry, and no one’s working. In New York too. Might be a couple TV shows. People are hurting.
That’s what it comes down to. Production has largely left not only California, but the U.S. Below-the-line workers are in crisis. Tariffs aren’t necessarily the best way to go about it, but a more nuanced approach, which is what Voight seems to be promising, is severely needed to relaunch a dying California film industry.