Earlier this week, Hollywood was shocked when Donald Trump said that he had authorized his administration to institute a 100% tariff on movies not made in the United States. The news sent the entertainment industry reeling, and stocks for studios including Disney, Paramount, and Lionsgate immediately fell. However, as he had done with past tariff announcements, the White House quickly walked back Mr. Trump’s announcement, saying that nothing had been decided yet.
Related: After Stocks Tumble, White House Walks Back Movie Tariffs
Disney stayed quiet for a while, but in a surprising move, CFO Hugh Johnston said that the Mouse House would be “happy” to work with Mr. Trump on “things that make sense.” He said that he was “encouraged” by the President’s interest in helping the movie industry, which has admittedly been struggling. However, it is unclear how Mr. Trump thinks imposing tariffs on an industry he said was “dying” would help.
When speaking about Mr. Trump’s plan, the White House said that the ultimate goal was to “Make Hollywood Great Again.” And now, we know who in Hollywood is helping Mr. Trump achieve that goal.
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In January, Trump announced that he was appointing actors Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson, and Jon Voight as “Special Ambassadors” to Hollywood. Their goal was to bring business back to Hollywood that had been lost to “foreign countries.”
Mr. Voight, the father of Angelina Jolie, is best known to Disney fans for his role as Mr. Sir in the 2003 Shia LaBeouf movie Holes. And he is reportedly the main architect behind Mr. Trump’s plans for Hollywood.
According to TheWrap, Voight presented Mr. Trump with a plan to bring productions back to Hollywood during a meeting at Mar-a-Lago.
The proposed plan includes federal incentives for production and post-production, the establishment of co-production treaties with foreign countries, as well as infrastructure subsidies for theater owners, job training, and other changes to the tax code. The plan also calls for the use for tariffs in “certain limited circumstances.”
Related: Disney Reveals Gender-Swapped Cast for ‘Holes’ Remake
Even though the initial tariffs shocked the entertainment industry, Voight told Variety that people should be expressing “enthusiasm and gratitude.”
“We’ve gotten a lot of good response from people,” he says. “We’re really rolling up our sleeves and working. I think we have a good plan, and we’re just beginning. This little team of mine has worked very hard to try to figure out things. The union people and producers give their expertise and understanding to this problem, and we’re working together. A lot of people had a lot of input and we’re listening to everybody.”
In a video posted to his Instagram, the actor spoke about his plan to revive Hollywood and his belief in it. He also praised Mr. Trump, whom he has been a staunch supporter of since 2016.
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Voight said that his plan includes details about how to incentivize studios to bring productions back to the States. Productions have increasingly been moving overseas, as other countries have become cheaper to work in. However, states like California and Georgia have continued to offer a variety of incentives to keep studios interested in making movies there.
At this time, we do not know how the plan will address American movies that do not take place in the US and are filmed on location. We also do not know if the rules apply only to theatrical releases or streaming films.
Do you think Hollywood should be punished for not making movies in the United States? Or should the government not be allowed to tell studios where they can and cannot make their movies? Should states work harder to offer better incentives to studios, so they are more inclined to shoot in the US? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!
The post The Former Disney Star Behind Trump’s “Make Hollywood Great Again” Movement appeared first on Inside the Magic.
