Trump Tariffs Tick Off Film World

MATT: Eric, welcome to today’s inaugural episode of Publisher’s Verdict.

ERIC: Thanks Matt, it is terrific to be here and launching this new podcast series.

MATT: This is the very first episode of a new recurring series we’ll be hosting on the TFV Network and since it is the first episode of what will be a regular series, can we tell our listeners what Publisher’s Verdict is all about?

ERIC: Absolutely. I have absolutely no clue what this is about. Listen, I think this is a great idea that you came up with to have a voice. Talk about the film industry, the international film industry, the independents, film festivals, film studios… really a bit of everything. But quite frankly, I have no clue where this is going to go after three minutes so it’s up to us to make this happen.

MATT: Well, it’s up to us and it’s also up to whatever is going on in the world of film, the film industry. There’s always something happening and we’ll get to the here and now in a moment. But first, Eric, of course, just continuing on our introduction to this series, what’s important about it is that you will be bringing your perspective from your experience of years and years in this crazy world of filmmaking and film trade publication.

ERIC: I’m glad you didn’t say years, years, and more years! But yeah, there’s been a lot of years in and around the business. You know, what’s really interesting, Matt, is that as a publisher, I was publisher of The Hollywood Reporter and, uniquely, I was also head of international for Variety for a number of years. So, uniquely, I was involved in both publications, the biggest trade magazines in the entertainment industry.

But what I find really interesting is the fact that we’re living in such bizarre times in the film industry. There’s just change and that’s where I think it’s easier to have a podcast and have these conversations, and even bring guests on and get their opinions. But it is my opinion. I mean, I want to make it really clear. I mean, the reason I have to be super clear is that The Film Verdict is a platform that is so independent because of the nature of what we do, and it is the value that we have. The integrity of our editors, our film critics that go to film festivals around the world. Of course, they write their opinions on films. I’m not going to be doing that. I’m going to have opinions but really, I am not a film critic, this is what all of our critics do and they’re just phenomenal. So, this is purely Eric Mika who happens to be the publisher of The Film Verdict, who happens to have about 30, 40 years of experience in the industry. My opinions.

MATT: Right, this is going to be less about the artistry of filmmaking and more about, you know, what’s happening, whether it’s film market trends or just something that has happened that could shape the future of film production and what have you. That’s kind of what we’re going to be focusing on.

ERIC: Yeah, but I’m not going to be afraid to also tackle some interesting questions that deal with creativity in the industry. You know, the interesting thing–and these are subjects that we can talk about later on–is you have money and creativity. Do they work? Do governmental incentives work and produce the best films? And lately, tariffs. Are they going to help anyone? These are the kind of questions I think that we can tackle but it always kind of boils back down, when you have these conversations, is the creativity, the storytelling of the film industry. What’s best for the storyteller and the audience. So, I think we’ll tackle those sorts of questions as well.

MATT: Well, since we are not afraid to pursue topics that may be perceived as, let’s say, controversial, today’s focal topic, and maybe a starting point to further discussions, is whatever happened yesterday. Because we’re recording this on May the 6th, 2025, and I believe it was yesterday that President Trump warned about a 100% tariff on non-U.S. films. What is your understanding of that Trump announcement? What does it entail?

ERIC: My understanding? Zero. And I think a lot of the studio executives and associations around the world and filmmakers have the same understanding. Zero. It’s ridiculous. I mean, what are we doing? A tariff on creativity? A tariff on filmmaking? For international businesses? How can it be implemented? What it actually means it’s just pathetically… It’s just pathetic, it’s not even pathetically. It’s just pathetic.

I mean, what is the goal in accomplishment? Well, it seems to be to create more jobs, more income, in the United States where film producers can come here and shoot films and make it easier. That seems to be the goal and objective. I’m not clear. I don’t think anyone is clear about what the goal and objective might be but it would be helpful for the Trump administration, maybe, to sit down and talk to their friends–if they have any left in Europe and their allies–about what they have done to enhance and create a filmmaking community. Not an industry but a filmmaking community. Not by tariffs but with incentives, by incentivizing filmmakers to come to Europe and shoot their films there through tax reductions and assistance. I mean, this seemingly has worked really, really well.

But the irony of all this, and there’s a lot, is that the entertainment industry is, or at least war, the largest exporting commodity in the United States. Whether it is today, I don’t know. But we sell more entertainment products around the world that guns, wheat, and butter. It is so easy for other countries to place a massive tariff on U.S. films being shown in their country and go the way China has. China has always been limiting the amount of films that enter their country and really not having a free market. So, I think it’s a dangerous thing. But you know, again, I’m going back to the original answer, which is, nobody has a clue what this means, how it could be implemented, what is the implementation of it. So, it’s just noise. I think it’s more noise but it certainly gives time now during the Cannes Film Festival for everyone to have a chat about it like you and I.

MATT: Exactly, and to me it’s no coincidence that the announcement happens near enough to the start of the biggest film festival in the world. It almost feels like more of a marketing move than anything that was advised by anyone that has anything to do with film or the film industry at large. But let’s try and understand this a little more because Trump’s announcement, the bulk of which went around the news based on, I guess, a social media post. Whether that was the original intent or not, that’s kind of what I first saw it. And the post was accompanied by a variation on the MAGA slogan, adapted into “Let’s Make Movies American Again.” Is there anything about this announcement that can actually be beneficial to Hollywood and the American film industry? Can this move actually make movies American again, whatever that means?

ERIC: No, no. Again, I’m going back to American films. Hollywood films are large. The largest exporting product the United States has. Those films are financed in hundreds of different ways and they’re not financed 100% by American money. They are financed globally. These are massive undertakings and so, how do you measure what is and what makes an American film? The concept doesn’t register in today’s world. I mean, I don’t think it ever has but I don’t know… What makes a legal American film? Is it the story? Is it the money? Is it the number of people who actually work on the film? I mean, what’s bizarre is that this is what underdeveloped film countries who want to expand their productivity of film, this is what they do. We don’t need to do that if we want to increase the amount of film production in the United States to create employment.

There are many, many other ways to do that, that won’t hurt the industry. Because this ultimately can rebound significantly and directly hurt not just the massive U.S. corporate studios but the independents. The independent filmmakers in the United States who are under and always have been under immense stress and pressure to create their story and to create their films. So, again, I think this is potentially a lot of noise. It’s something that will be talked about. But there is one maybe positive aspect and that would be, if the administration begins to listen and look at the glass half full, which is the incentives to encourage international filmmakers to come to the United States and for American filmmakers to shoot their films on locations in the United States.

Our location business is a multi-million dollar business. Its economic development, its impact, is tremendous. Europe has known this. They get it. The United States, the people in the AFCI, the associations, they get it. The United States in general has just such immense geographical images from New York City to Arizona deserts, to the oceans of California and the Gulf. And so, I think, if anything, this could start to open up a conversation about whether the federal government–not the states, because the states do a lot… I mean, Governor Newsom has just committed to even do more on the back of this announcement to encourage filmmakers to shoot their films in California. Governor Newsom just came out with this and New York City does the same, and so do many of the Sstates. But on a federal level, can we do more? And the answer is absolutely yes. This would drive international business into the United States. It would encourage people to shoot their films here in the United States form a production point of view. But then again, we have no clue. I’m assuming that that is the most logical aspect that the Trump administration is looking at in creating opportunities in the United States.

MATT: Right because there are so many different steps in filmmaking. It’s not just shooting, it’s also the pre-production and post-production. The distribution then becomes a really important topic that is probably often taken for granted but it’s definitely one that would have to be part of discussions when it comes to the ban that President Trump announced. There’s so many different problems but you’re right. If there is a positive, it might encourage the states to offer more incentives to people, whether it’s American productions or international productions to shoot their films there. And I think everybody would be happy enough with that.

ERIC: I think so too. I mean, look, there are so many real issues that the filmmakers in the United States have to deal with and of course, the cost production, like any business, right? And this is another issue that we can tackle but we’re going to go on forever on this podcast. But the other question is, you know, if the United States is a capitalist country and believes in a free market, well, there’s a big question mark right there. So, a business will look for the best place to source their product or to shoot their film. If Canada offers better incentives or deeper incentives than anywhere in the United States or if Europe… I mean, there’s great competition. Italy actually, as you know because you and I have been at some seminars together, has done a tremendous rebound. They’ve rebounded really well in getting films to shoot in Italy. Whether it’s Netflix films or Amazon or U.S. studio films. Italy is reemerging or has reemerged as a real destination. So, I think it’s time that the federal government start to sit down with some of their international friends and learn how they can encourage shooting films in the United States from a federal level.

MATT: And since, you know, we should bring it up, I guess part of all of this is because, let’s face it, Trump doesn’t have a lot of friends in the Hollywood community, it being notoriously liberal. I don’t know whether that has anything to do with it. Of course, there is another side to all this that goes beyond the money, the business side and it’s the cultural side. And it’s scary because when you start imposing bans and tariffs on culture, on the arts, you’re treading on dangerous waters evoking dark things from the past.

Historically, though, when we look at what’s happening in the film industry today, it’s not impossible to see that there is a crisis. For example, a lot of people are worried about AI taking their jobs, including in the film industry. But when we look back at a time when there was a crisis, and talking about American filmmaking, that was in the 1960s. Americans–and the entire world, but focusing on America–stopped going to movie theatres and stayed at home watching television, which became cinema’s main competition. But that is when a new generation of filmmakers arose and reinvented film conventions, kickstarting movement known as New Hollywood or the American New Wave, spearheaded by such directors as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Dennis Hopper, you name it. And of course, they were inspired by similar film revolutionaries in Europe, Japan, and other countries and regions that were kind of rethinking cinema in incredible ways. That’s why it seems to me that on a purely artistic ground, Trump’s cultural policies can only be detrimental.

ERIC: I agree. Look, whether it’s Trump’s policy… I mean, quite frankly, I don’t think he understands the industry, it’s a very, very complex industry because it deals in creativity and it deals in high finance, it’s so complicated in so many different ways. The other issue, and I’m agreeing with you on the cultural aspect, it’s very, very sticky, it’s very dangerous. And to begin to muddle government and creativity, I think that’s dangerous and you said it. But it’s also just bad business.

You see Netflix, for example. And you know, I want to make sure this show doesn’t go on forever, so maybe next week or the next show, I’d love to talk about the detriments of Netflix and streaming platforms. Are they good for the creativity of our international friends and U.S. film producers? Because here’s one of the issues. U.S. film producers are already under so much pressure to create a library of films. And in the old days, a producer would own the products they produced. Today, they’re getting financed by the streamers. The streamers actually own the products. One way to get around this, in order for them to maintain and hold onto and build a library of value is, they do intentional co-productions. That way, the international co-producer holds the rights in another company, which the American producer is part of. And boom, they own together an actual product.

The streamers, or certainly Netflix, from my understanding want to hold onto the rights of the films of American producers but they don’t do that with European films because that’s against the European law for the streamer to hold onto the rights of the film. So, there’s a lot of things that we can untangle as we move forward–or, actually, maybe not untangle, maybe tangle them a bit more and confuse everybody.

But I think, at the end of the day, the aspect of creativity is always the underlining factor in filmmaking and in any medium of entertainment. So, when a government, any government, begins to muddle into entertainment, whether it’s giving grants, loans, whatever. It may be my question back to the producer of the film producer or film director. Are you now providing the best quality entertainment and creativity possible for the audience? Or are you genuine to your art? So, these are a lot of questions that we can explore but I’m looking at the clock and it’s running rapidly past the ten minutes you and I agree on, so I don’t know… How do you want to wrap this up, Matt?

MATT: Well, here’s how we can wrap it up. There are so many things that we can discuss and I mean, you talking about streaming… that’s definitely a topic that we need to talk about. I would also like to discuss this American cinema that, in my head, is still the most powerful and accessible in the world but that, at the same time, is so vulnerable.

ERIC: Absolutely and I enjoyed speaking about all this and I think everyone should take a deep breath and be true to themselves and true to their own filmmaking ideals.

MATT: As a final question then, Eric, since Cannes is just around the corner. Anybody traveling to Cannes and maybe now, with all the Trump tariff talk… How woudl you suggest they’d interact with this news? Is this going to impact interactions that will be happening over there at the Marché du Film, of course, the Cannes Film Market

ERIC: Well, listen, the film festival in Cannes and of course, the Marché, as you said… what this does is it gives the buyer a great excuse to just hold off maybe or to hurry up. In other words, I think it’s going to leverage discussions that allow buyers of products and films to determine a price in the buy or sell. At the end of the day, I think people will not pay attention to this. There’s a thousand billion ways over the time where governments have attempted to subdue anything or control the entertainment industry. And it’s a difficult thing to do because the individuals in the film business are incredibly creative. They’re creative lawyers, creative accountants, creative writers, creative directors. Trust me, they’re going to be creative to figure out ways around any tariff that is put onto international films.

I think the last thing we want to do for the film industry, the international, global film industry, is to put a tariff on any film being distributed in the United States. If we go down that road, that is a very, very dangerous road for the U.S. studios and independents who are trying to get their films distributed around the world. Because just like what we see in the cars and textiles or anything else, there’s going to be reciprocal tariffs, which will then ban or highly make it incredibly difficult for a U.S. film to be shown in France, Germany or other countries. So, let’s hope that certainly that’s not the way that they go and I do believe and hope that all this talk about tariffs is basically an idea of how do we create more shooting of films in the United States. And I think everyone agrees that more can be done at a federal level to encourage filmmakers to come here. But tariffs are certainly not the best way to do it.

MATT: And just to add to that, of course, you know when we talk about reciprocal tariffs, I guess that’s going to be much to the benefit of pirating movies, which is a different problem altogether but I can see that also getting out of hand.

ERIC: Absolutely. Well, okay, listen, I think we’re running like 25 minutes here and I’m sure that we’re starting to lose these individuals who join enthusiastically for a fast, short ten-minute episode. But these are big topics, these are massive topics and you know, what I’d love to be able to do at some point is get other people on our podcast to share their opinions and talk about this as well.

So, Matt, I think we can conclude our first episode. You know what, the name of the show is the Publisher’s Verdict, right? So, we should come up with a verdict at the end of each show. So, the verdict of this show is, the Trump administration has no clue about the international or U.S. film industry. That’s my verdict. I’m going to bid everyone a great day. Keep the faith and keep making films.