Outside In | Emily in Paris or Pasadena? That might depend on Trump’s tariff plan

Last weekend, Jon Voight, the 86-year-old Hollywood actor most famous for his role in the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy, met US President Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. As one of Trump’s three emissaries to Hollywood, Voight’s aim was to discuss how to make Hollywood great again.

Tinseltown has had a terrible time in the last five years. Not only did Covid-19 batter the industry, but the long strikes that followed in 2023 provided a second body blow. Technology changes, including video streaming and artificial intelligence innovations, have compounded challenges.

The devastating Palisades and Eaton wildfires only made things worse. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, a Los Angeles-based trade union that represents a large proportion of film industry professionals, says California has lost 18,000 jobs in the last three years.

But it appears that rather than these multifaceted challenges, “runaway production” became the focus of Voight’s meeting with Trump. According to data from ProdPro, which tracks studio spending, the amount of money spent in the United States on films and television series with a budget of US$10 million or more fell around 26 per cent in 2024 compared to 2021. Generous incentive programmes offered by other countries contributed to this drop-off.

ProdPro notes that the most popular challenges came from Toronto and Vancouver in Canada, the United Kingdom, central Europe and Australia. In its assessment of the state of film and television production, Entertainment Partners says: “Despite California’s unmatched workforce, iconic location and century-long industry leadership, it faces increasing competition from states and countries offering more robust incentives.”

While Hollywood is the world’s most high-profile filmmaking location, other places have grown in importance in recent years, most notably in Canada. The California government provides subsidies amounting to around US$330 million a year, but it seems this is not enough. Trump’s Hollywood emissary was in Mar-a-Lago to outline a recovery plan.