From News Desk
Photo courtesy – Noom Peerapong/Unsplash
Trump has announced 100% tariff on films made outside the US. He said he wanted to boost the dying Hollywood and “Make films in America again.
From the reactions of the film makers in Hollywood, it clearly shows that Trump has no understanding of the complexities of film economics today. Rather than hitting the foreign films, his tariff policies are actually hitting the Hollywood film industry hard.
In today’s context, much of film making has been shifted out of the US to locations where cost of film making and labour are cheaper. Thus, Hollywood films are largely not being made in Hollywood anymore, but in countries such as in the UK and Hungary. Besides, what Trump doesn’t seem to understand is that these tariffs shall be paid by the US film goers and not by the foreign film makers.
It’s not clear yet if the tariffs also apply to Netflix and other OTT streaming platforms, or to just the film screening theatres.
Apprehensions are being raised that this policy shall bring the film industry to a standstill.
India, which makes the largest number of films in the world, may see a slight impact of this policy. Indian films are largely made in the Indian languages and are watched by the Indian emigrants settled abroad. But in today’s context, Indian films generate revenue not by the money from the viewers but by other sources.
A large number of US films are shown n India, both in English and dubbed in Indian languages.
If India retaliates with a similar practice on US films, it has the potential to harm the Hollywood film industry further.
It is being hoped in Hollywood that Trump will hold discussions with the film makers and will understand the economics behind film making.
Global Perspectives... 