How Can Trump Fix Hollywood?

No part of me wants to write about politics. But since President Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday night that he wants to "Make Hollywood Great Again" via 100% tariffs on foreign movies (and then we saw a ton of industry stocks plummet on Monday), it behooves me to engage.

Trump says he wants to help Hollywood, and as part of the drowning man, I'd take a rope no matter who threw it to me.

Look, I know Donald Trump is not reading No Film School, but should he or his administration want to chat, we're always around. Don't hesitate to reach out.

Hollywood does need help, and I will talk to anyone about it. Because I think there's actually a lot that Trump can do to help American movies and TV survive.

Let's dive in.

Hollywood Does Have a Problem! 

I live in Los Angeles, and I haven't worked on anything in LA in a while. The last TV show I was on was shot in Canada, and the movie I optioned last year will be, too. Neither are set there on the page, but the tax incentives make it too good to pass up.

I have friends who work on game shows, they tell me it's easier to send the entire cast and crew to London than it is to book and shoot in the USA, let alone in Los Angeles. (Rob Lowe talked about this in March, too.)

And as we've covered, California has fallen way behind other states in terms of tax rebates and incentives. Our governor, Gavin Newsom, is trying to get those things up to date. But he only runs California.

If we want to help all of film and TV across the country, we need some presidential orders, and we need a lot of them.

We are bleeding jobs overseas and making crew members in America destitute as they struggle to find work. At the same time, we're allowing other nations to grow on the hard work of our citizens, who may write movies and TV shows for our audiences, but see them come to fruition elsewhere.

Tariffs Are Not the Answer.

As I covered on Monday, in my opinion, tariffs are not the answer to Hollywood's problem. They're way too complicated, probaby violate World Trade Organization rules, and do nothing but drive up costs.

Even the Trump White House understands this, as they walked back those tariff suggestions on Monday.

Apparently, Jon Voight has been making the rounds as one of Trump's Hollywood Emissaries, and the tariffs idea came from him. Whomever they came from, they fundamentally do not understand what would save Hollywood right now.

That's because people like Voight are not looking at the problem like producers.

A great producer knows that adding tariffs and making something cost more money just means no one will do those things. They won't pay, they'll just stop making things.

That's not good for anyone.

These highly priced tariffs would just kill Hollywood, not save us. You might as well throw the drowning man a concrete block.

How Can Trump Help Hollywood? 

Hollywood is drowning. We need a lifeline. No matter who throws it.

Any producer will tell you that at the end of the day, despite efforts like Stay in LA and even a great sense of patriotism, they choose where a movie shoots based strictly on the budget. And right now, shooting movies and TV in America is extremely expensive.

These expenses can be brought down with executive orders creating some sort of universal tax incentive for movies that shoot in America. It could be coupled with state incentives to make shooting outside the US pricier.

That would change everything.

Along with this, maybe there's a way to give tax code changes and broad federal incentives to bring the cost of shooting a movie here down. If there was a kickback for employing something like 75% American citizens on a movie shot here, especially if that came with like a 40% tax incentive, you'd see a lot more movies shooting here.

Do that for the next 10 years with no cap, and you're going to see a boom in production like never before.

There are also things like co-production treaties and subsidies for infrastructure that could help facilitate all of these goals.

Puck's Matt Belloni has a great article on just how a lot of this would work. And as he notes, this should be a bipartisan topic. Especially when you have people like Democrat Adam Schiff, who has been asking for something like this in Congress for years.

And Newsom just announced that he wanted to work with Trump to create a $7.5 billion federal film tax credit that would cover a lot of these production costs in just LA and CA alone.

We would need a bigger number to cover the US.

These sorts of incentives would pull production back to the USA, vaulting economies where these films and TV shows shoot. Not only would we fill jobs on set, but restaurants and hotels, and other industries surrounding would thrive.

Trump himself has said, “I’m not looking to hurt the industry, I want to help the industry."

Well, if you want to help, this is how you do it. And I think a lot of people in Hollywood would be happy to help these things move forward.

No matter who brings them to us.

Cynicism 

Politics is all about helping your constituents and looking good on TV. Do I think Trump wants to help a blue state like California? Do I think presidential hopeful Newsom really wants to get into bed with Trump?

Well, all that depends on how they poll. And how those actions poll with their constituents.

I'm very cynical about this, mostly because I think Hollywood is much more politically diverse than people assume. And because these are Americans who are suffering, they're human beings paying for groceries, mortgages, and trying to live in this great country.

We do need help.

Summing It All Up

I know Trump is a polarizing figure, but he's who is in office, and he's who is calling the shots.

I care so much about Hollywood. I want to see it thrive deep into this century. I want to be involved in movies and TV shows that outlive me and that future generations appreciate.

But the only way for this to continue is if we start to help Hollywood out right now. Create incentives, work with producers, work with people across the aisle to make sure this genuine American industry can stay here and continue to be one of our most powerful at forms for the foreseeable future.

Let me know what you think in the comments.