Somewhere in the West Wing, President Donald Trump’s ears perked up when he heard the news that a Richard Nixon biopic would be made overseas thanks to the undesirable state of filmmaking in America.
“Hollywood is a Complete and Total Disaster!” Trumpposted to Truth Socialon Aug. 31, following the sobering conversation with film producers and one of his “special ambassadors” to Hollywood, actor Jon Voight.
“Despite the name, it is getting very little work. There is no incentive to be there, and it is hurting California very badly,” Trump lamented.
Bigwigs on both sides of the aisle agree. Even the president himself argued in his lengthy post that this situation can’t be turned around without bipartisan support.
“I am going to suggest that Republicans and Democrats get together, and immediately craft Legislation to save the Movie, Television, and Entertainment Business in America,” he wrote, adding, “Congress should approve, immediately, a Federal Production Incentive to create Entertainment Jobs in America.”
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This concern did not spring out of nowhere.
Since late 2022, the U.S. film industry haslost around 30% of its jobs, with those positions being sent overseas to countries like Hungary, the United Kingdom, or even to our northern neighbors in Canada.
In March, Sen. Adam Schiff of California noted that Hollywood had lost around 42,000 entertainment jobs in the past two years.
But looking at the public sentiment swirling around Hollywood and its eclectic creations, you might be quick to assume that right-leaning factions would be thrilled to see such a “woke” industry collapse.
If it’s not Christopher Nolan’s diverse casting in “The Odyssey” riling the right, then it’s the pro-immigrant themes in James Gunn’s “Superman.” And if MAGA-supporting voices aren’t up in arms about Disney’s live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid” starring Black actor Halle Bailey, then they’re side-eyeing the feminist message in “Barbie.”
Though it might be a woke Hollywood, it’s ourwoke Hollywood—”ours” meaning unapologetically American. And that has voices from both sides united in cheering the idea of a federal tax incentive.
“I am in strong agreement with the President,” Schiff tweeted, despite being one of Trump’s perennial progressive punching bags.
“Congress should immediately take up and pass a federal film tax incentive to bring back these good-paying jobs that we’ve lost to other countries” Schiff continued. “Let’s work together — Republicans and Democrats — to get this done, and bring the movie magic back to America.”
SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin—known for playing Samwise in “Lord of the Rings”—also praised the president’s message, urging that a federal tax incentive be pushed through by Congress sooner than later.
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But facing the reality of the hemorrhaging film industry, economists have long argued that tax incentives aren’t enough, and might even be a wasted effort.
Queue the bipartisan brainstorming.
Part of Voight’s proposal includes film co-production “treaties” with other countries and tariffs on certain foreign films being distributed in the U.S.. And as the tax incentive conversation grew this past year, the famously conservative actor sat down with unlikely allies including Democratic Congresswoman Laura Friedman as well.
Because as Hollywood’s industry workers take up gig work and mull over career changes after decades in their field, everyone can agree that something has to change before the Hollywood sign is emblematic of a ghost town rather than an American legacy.
